You Can't Scare Me Twice!
by Lord Candycane
Summary: Sequel to "You Can't Scare Me". Eddie is fed up with Courtney King's bravado. He is fed up with her acting like she is so fearless. So, on Halloween Night, he makes up his mind to scare her once and for all, and he's come up with a foolproof plan to do so. But little did he know that this night would be scarier than he could possibly imagine...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is an idea that recently popped into my mind and decided that it would be fun. As the title suggests, this story acts as a sequel to the Goosebumps book "You Can't Scare Me!". It has no relation to any of my other Goosebumps works. With this said, let's get started.**

* * *

 ** _You Can't Scare Me Twice!_**

* * *

 _It all transpired one year ago._

 _I was alone in the woods of Muddy Creek, with nobody but my closest confidant by my side to keep me company. It was dark, foreboding, the only source of light coming from the full moon as it illuminated the darkness of the forest. Any person my age would have been terrified._

 _But not me. I fear nothing._

 _I was here to observe the rising of the Mud Monsters. Legend has it that once a year, when the moon is full, the Mud Monsters will rise from their silt grave to dance in the moonlight_ ― _and to claim more victims to join them in death._

 _Tonight was such a night. And I would be there to witness it._

 _And sure enough, I saw it. Dozens, no,_ hundreds, _of Mud Monsters, arising from the depths of their graves to celebrate walking among the living once more. I saw it with my own two eyes. There was no faking that._

 _But as it turned out, the two of us weren't the only ones out in the woods that night. A group of poor, unfortunate souls had gotten themselves lost in Muddy Creek on the night that the Mud Monsters would rise. They surely didn't stand a chance against the century-old creatures._

 _I knew that if I didn't do anything, those poor children would become simply more victims of the wrath of the Mud Monsters. So, being the courageous person that I was, I stepped up to the occasion._

 _With my close confidant by my side, I jumped into the fray, protecting the Mud Monsters' would-be victims. It was a tough fight, and anyone else would have screamed and fled, but not me. My objective was to protect those poor souls._

 _I managed to delay the Mud Monsters long enough for my confidant to guide the would-be victims out of the woods to safety. With them safe, I turned and followed suite, narrowly escaping the Mud Monsters with my life._

 _And that is how I, Courtney King, saved the-_

* * *

"No!" My best friend Hat shouted from his desk at the far end of the classmate, interrupting Courtney King's recollection of that fateful night in Muddy Creek a year ago. "No, no, no, no, NO! That is _totally_ not how it happened! You're exaggerating it again!"

Standing beside Courtney, our school teacher, Mr. Melvin, asked in an annoyed tone, "Do you have a problem with Courtney's story, Herbie?"

"Of course I do!" Hat retorted bitterly. His real name was Herbie, but we all called him Hat since he always wore a baseball cap on his head.

"And what might that problem be?" Courtney asked, her voice sickeningly sweet. She wore a smug and prideful expression on her face, the sort of expression that makes you want to storm over to the other side of the class and slap it off of them.

Of course, me and my friends had grown accustomed to seeing that expression on Courtney's face ever since "that night", as we referred to it.

"Courtney, you know that is not how it went," I pointed out, trying to be rational in the face of Hat's rage. I was honestly just as pissed off as he was to hear Courtney's recount of "that night" be misrepresented in such a way, but I tried to hide it.

"Oh?" Courtney asked, turning her gaze to me. "Well, Eddie, if you think my story is being distorted, why don't _you_ stand up, walk up to the front of the class, and give your version of the events?"

She knew I wasn't going to do it. Her version of the story made me and my friends look like helpless victims, but the _real_ version made us look like jackasses. My only recourse was to shut my mouth and look away.

"What's wrong, Eddie?" Courtney asked, sounding concerned. "Too scared?"

"No," Hat replied, speaking for me. "But _you_ definitely were on the night those Mud Monsters came for you!"

"Oh please, Hat," Courtney said, rolling her eyes at me and flicking her head, letting her long, blonde hair flow in the air. "You Can't Scare Me."

* * *

"I freaking hate that brat!" I vented to Hat and our girl friends Molly and Charlene at our treehouse after school was over.

Ever since "that night", Courtney had become even more of a show-off than before. She'd always been outdoing us in just about everything in the past, but after her little "theory" regarding the Mud Monsters being real had been proven correct, it was like her ego had become inflated a thousand times over. She was always bragging about how she had been right all along, and how monsters really were real. It was practically unbearable.

"This has got to be the dozenth time she's lied about that night," Hat grumbled, clearly just as annoyed as I was. "She's constantly retelling that story, each one more ridiculous than the fast, all to make her look like even more of a hero!"

"Remember when she said she fought off ten Mud Monsters with her bare hands?" Charlene asked, recalling one of those tall tales Courtney had told several months ago.

"How could I forget?" I mumbled, running a hand through my red hair. "It's so stupid. She was just as scared as we were that night. But everyone thinks she's some kind of hero just because she was right about the Mud Monsters being real."

That caused the other three to shiver a bit. Even though it had been a year ago, the four of us still harbored bad memories of that night. The mental image of those dozens of Mud Monsters emerging from the swamp and approaching us was still etched into my mind as clear as day, with no sign of it fading into obscurity any time soon.

I hated to admit it, but every time there was a full moon, I'd sleep in my parents' bed.

But for some reason, some strange reason, Courtney was totally unaffected. She'd seemed to suffer no lasting trauma from the event. She never got sweaty when the moon came out, she'd never look over her shoulders when it was dark outside. If anything, that night had just increased her courage, and by extension, her ego.

It pissed me off to no end. It was like Courtney really was fearless.

I wanted so badly to give Courtney a real scare. A scare that would make her spend many a sleepless night. My friends thought the same.

Prove that Courtney really wasn't fearless. It was a really tempting thought.

But the only problem was that we were too scared.

* * *

 ** _A/N: First chapter over. Stay tuned for more updates._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Second chapter up. Just a heads up, while the story is normally told from Eddie's POV, some scenes will be shown without Eddie's POV to provide context.**_

 _ **With that said, let's continue.**_

* * *

After months of waiting, it was finally here. Halloween had arrived, and I couldn't be more excited.

"Tonight is going to be the best night ever!" I was telling Molly and Charlene as the four of us walked through the school hallways after the bell rang. "We're going to get candy, and visit scary houses, and best of all, me and Hat have been working on the greatest costume ever!"

"Couldn't you just buy a costume at the store?" Molly asked as she half-walked, half-skipped next to us.

"Yeah, but that wouldn't have been _cool_ enough!" I pointed out. "My brother Kevin and his pals made those Mud Monster costumes by hand last year; it's only fitting I do the same."

"Hey, speaking of which, does your brother still have those costumes?" Charlene asked.

"Yeah, he keeps them in our attic," I replied casually. "He says it's in case he ever makes a sequel to that horror film he and his friends made."

Charlene groaned in disgust. "I can't believe he can stand to have those costumes in your house after _that night_ ," She said, revolted. "I'd have buried those costumes in the ground to get rid of any memories of that incident."

Hat jokingly crept up on Charlene and tickled her back. "Be careful, Charlene," He whispered in an overly-dramatic, haunting voice. "If you do that, they might rise up from the ground to take revenge!"

Molly shoved Hat's hands off of Charlene. "That's not funny, Hat," She chastised, pointing a stern finger in his direction.

I rolled my eyes. As I did, I noticed our classmates were crowding around the school exit doors, exchanging whispers and giggles.

"What's this?" I asked in confusion as I headed towards the small crowd to see what all the commotion was about. Shoving through my classmates, I saw Courtney's best friend, Denise, handing out what looked like invitations to the other students.

"Here's an invitation to Butcher's Cabin this Halloween Night," She was saying as she handed out the invitations. "Make sure to come wearing an extra scary costume."

 _Butcher's Cabin_ _?_ I thought in confusion. That was the abandoned house of Edward Butcher, an alleged serial killer who died over fifty years ago. Rumors circulated that his ghost still haunted the house.

Why would anyone want to go there?

By now, my friends had shown up. "Hey Denise, what's going on?" Hat asked, confused.

Denise turned to face us and stuck up her nose in a haughty manner. "This Halloween, Courtney's inviting all our classmates to Old Man Butcher's cabin for a sleepover," She explained to us. "We're going to tell ghost stories and eat candy all night."

"Sounds stupid," I scoffed, shifting my eyes to the side and trying to hide my envy.

"You're invited to come, if you want," Denise said, retaining her snooty tone.

"Really?" Molly asked, sounding surprisingly excited, even though she wasn't exactly friends with Courtney or Denise. "I guess we could-"

"-No!" I interrupted, slamming my arm into Molly's stomach to get her to shut up. She doubled over in sudden pain, feeling as if the breath had been knocked out of her.

"We aren't interested in Courtney's stupid slumber party," I declined, folding my arms and turning up my nose. "We have better things to do tonight, right guys?" I turned to the other three, expecting their support, only to be surprised when they looked unsure for a few moments. I glared at them, and they reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Denise frowned. "Your loss," She said, and continued handing out the invitations to the rest of our classmates.

I scoffed. "It's a loss we surely won't regret," I retorted, and stuck my tongue out at Denise.

* * *

When we left school that afternoon, Hat, Molly and Charlene left to go put on their costumes. Afterwards, they would meet me at my house, and we'd spend the evening trick or treating.

Excitement was coursing through me as I entered my room and pulled out my costume me and Hat had been working on the past month. Pulling out an otherwise empty drawer, I pulled out the costume and put it on. Then, I stepped in front of the mirror to get a good look at myself.

I looked amazing. I was wearing old, tattered clothing with fake blood splattered on it. I had green gloves with black claws at the end of each finger. And on my face was a terrifying mask with massive horns and fangs with blood dripping down my jaw.

I couldn't wait for Molly and Charlene to arrive. When they saw me, they would freak out.

I strode towards the door, ready to meet my friends downstairs once they arrived. I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

Then, I froze.

Standing in the doorway was a tall , hunched figure. Mud was dripping from its body and onto the floor. Its massive jaw was hanging open, drool drizzling from its maw. And its two pitch black, empty eyes stared down into my own.

 _A Mud Monster!_

Letting out an ear-piercing scream, I flew backwards and landed on my bottom on the ground. I started scrambling backwards in a panic, my eyes wide with utter terror.

Immediately, the Mud Monster suddenly burst out laughing. "You should see the look on your face, Bugs!" He mocked.

My eyes widened as I recognized the voice. "Kevin?!" I shouted out in a mixture of shock and anger.

My older brother removed the Mud Monster mask to reveal his usual smug face. "It's a shame I don't have a camera right now!" He said, struggling to contain his amusement.

I sprang to my feet, fuming. "That's not funny, Kevin!" I shouted, my cheeks red. It didn't stop him from laughing. If anything, it made him laugh even harder.

I couldn't understand it. Kevin was there the night we saw the Mud Monsters rise from Muddy Creek. He of all people should know how terrifying that event was. And yet here he was, laughing at me right now.

He was worse than Courtney.

"What are you doing, Kevin?" I asked once I'd composed myself, though I was still pissed off.

"Me and my pals are going to the old cemetery dressed as the Mud Monsters," Kevin explained to me as he removed his costume. "We're going to scare the living daylights out of so many people tonight! It's gonna be fun!"

"Yip-pee," I said sarcastically, before letting out a deep sigh. My brother had a weird sense of humor.

The doorbell rang downstairs. "That should be my friends," I said, and pushed past Kevin to meet them. Practically soaring down the stairs, I rushed towards the door and swung it open to greet them.

At the door was Hat, Molly and Charlene, all in their costumes. Hat was dressed up as a vampire, Charlene was dressed as a witch, and Molly was dressed as a fairy.

The two girls gasped when they saw me. "Eddie, you look terrifying!" Molly said, covering her mouth in shock.

"I know!" I replied with my hands on my hips, oozing with pride. "That's a months work of dedication right here. I bet even Courtney'd be impressed if she saw me!"

"Probably not," Hat commented as he fixed his fake fangs into place. Even while dressed as a vampire, he was still wearing his hat.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Charlene asked, holding out her candy basket. "Let's go trick or treating!"

"Yeah!" Hat shouted in agreement.

Immediately, the four of us set off down the sidewalk, practically bursting with exhilaration. The skies were dark and there was a fierce wind blowing across our faces, but if anything, that just made me feel even more excited. We felt like we were in the setting of a horror film.

And then, an all-too-familiar figure stepped into view, and we felt like we'd just met the killer.

"Courtney?" I asked, exasperation clear in my voice.

My blonde classmate/rival was standing in front of us. She was dressed almost identical to the Bride of Frankenstein, complete with the white gown, the bolts in the neck, and the frizzy black hair with the white stripes. It's intricate design gave my own costume a run for its money. Immediately, envy began to course through me.

"Denise told me you turned down my invitation," Courtney said, scratching her neck. "Rather unfortunate. I was hoping you'd be the guests of honor at my sleepover."

"Well, actually it was Eddie who turned it down," Molly said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

Courtney turned to face me. "Nice costume," She said in a rather dismissive tone as she looked me up. I let out an annoyed groan and turned to the side to avoid her gaze.

"Denise and I were heading to the candy shop to buy the sweets for the sleepover," Courtney explained to us. "Are you interested in coming?"

"No!" I replied sharply, expecting my friends to do the same.

To my shock, however, Molly and Charlene actually seemed a little more uncertain. I didn't get why. I thought they hated Courtney as much as me and Hat did.

"Well. . ." Molly said, scratching her chin deep in thought.

"We're getting Airheads," Courtney added.

That caught Molly's attention. It was common knowledge in our class that Molly _loved_ Airhead candies.

"Alright, I guess we could come for the Airheads," Molly said with a small shrug.

"Me, too," Charlene added.

My jaw dropped in utter shock. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Molly and Charlene were going with _Courtney?_

 _"What?!"_ Hat shouted, clearly just as awe-struck as I was.

Immediately, Courtney grabbed Molly and Charlene's hands. "Great," She said, looking rather happy. "Let's get a move on." She rather roughly pulled Molly and Charlene forward before they could react.

Now, Molly had still been holding onto the sleeve of my costume at that point. When Courtney had yanked on Molly's arm to come forward, she hadn't let go of my costume. And as she was suddenly jerked forward, I felt my costume rip.

 _"No!"_ I shouted, but it was too late.

Half of my costume tore off in Molly's fist, along with my mask. I could only watch as my shredded costume, which I had spent so long working on, dropped onto the sidewalk and was blown off by the wind.

Molly gasped. "Sorry, Eddie," She apologized quickly. Courtney, on the other hand, didn't even appear to notice, and simply half-dragged my two girl friends down the sidewalk.

"You're going to love Butcher's Cabin," She was telling the two. "This is going to be the best Halloween ever!"

As the girls left, I stood frozen on the sidewalk, my face pale. My mouth was hanging open, and one eye was twitching rapidly. My entire body was quivering, not from the cold, but from pure, unadulterated _rage_.

Slowly, Hat approached me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Um, Eddie, are you alright?" He asked, somewhat concerned.

I slowly turned to face him, and when Hat saw the look in my eyes, he backed away in fear.

"This is the final straw," I growled, hatred in my voice. "Tonight, we are getting Courtney back!"

* * *

 _ **Read and review.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_Al Drin Hoshizora: He doesn't want to go because he doesn't like Courtney._

 _Matt: Eddie? Well, who wouldn't get upset at that?_

* * *

After Courtney ruined my Halloween costume (and nearly a month of my hard work), me and Hat had returned to my house to recoup. There was no point in going trick-or-treating if I had no costume.

"I hate Courtney!" I vented to Hat, punching my pillow and imagining Courtney's face in its place. "I hate that stuck-up, arrogant, blonde jerk!"

"Calm down, Eddie," Hat said, trying to console me, but failing hard. "It's not the end of the world. We'll just go to a cheap store and buy a new costume, and then we can continue trick-or-treating before the night's out."

I turned to glare at Hat. "We worked _hard_ on that costume!" I reminded Hat bitterly. "We can't just replace that hard work and act like nothing happened. Besides, Courtney took Molly and Charlene. Trick-or-treating won't be the same without them."

"I can't believe those guys," Hat said, shaking his head, his eyes narrowed. "What sell-outs."

"I know, right?" I said, throwing my arms up in exasperation. "And all for a bunch of Airheads!"

"Well, what do we do now?" Hat bluntly asked.

"What do you think?" I replied, staring at Hat like the answer was obvious. "We're going to get Miss Perfect back!"

"How?" Hat asked, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand.

I paused for a moment, scratching my head as I wondered what course of action to take. After a few moments, my eyes lit up as the answer came to me suddenly.

"We're going to scare her!" I exclaimed, springing to my feet. "We're gonna scare her so badly, she'll be having nightmares for months! We'll prove that she's not so fearless after all."

Hat stared at me, skeptically. "Eddie, this is a joke, right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought we swore we would _never_ try to scare Courtney again. Ever."

"Yeah, but that was a year ago," I replied, brushing Hat off. I said nothing about how I was the one who made the others swear not to scare Courtney again in the first place.

Hat still didn't seem convinced. "Even disregarding that, didn't you forget that Courtney isn't scared of anything?" He pointed out. "I thought last year made that clear. How the heck are we going to scare her now?"

"It's Halloween, Hat," I reminded him. "There are lots of ways to scare someone on Halloween." As I spoke, my eyes drifted to my room's open door, and I noticed the mud stains on the carpet from Kevin's Mud Monster costume.

Immediately, a light-bulb switched on in my head.

"I got it!" I shouted, snapping my fingers as the idea formulated in my head.

"What is it?" Hat asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're wrong, Hat," I said to him. "There _is_ something Courtney is afraid of. Last year made that clear."

It took Hat a few moments to figure out what I was talking about. When he did, his eyes went wide with fright. "Eddie, please tell me you're not thinking what I think you are," He said, taking a step backwards in fear.

"Oh, you bet I am," I replied as a devilish smirk appeared on my lips.

"Eddie, please no," Hat pleaded with me, becoming even more terrified as my grin grew wider. "Eddie, no. No. _No..."_

* * *

"No," Kevin said to me and Hat bluntly several minutes later.

"Come on, Kev," I pleaded with my older brother in his room. "All I'm asking is for you and your pals to go to Butcher's Cabin tonight and give Courtney King a little scare in your Mud Monster costumes."

"Not doing it," Kevin denied, folding his arms and shaking his head. "Me and pals have more important business to attend to at the cemetery. You know, teenager stuff."

As much as Kevin was trying to hide it, I knew the real reason he wasn't going through with it: even he was shaken up after "that night".

"Okay then, in that case, could you at least let me and Hat borrow one of them?" I asked, switching to a different plan.

That caused Kevin to burst out laughing. "You?!" He asked in disbelief as he struggled to catch his breath. "You're the size of a midget! You wouldn't fit in a Mud Monster costume! You'd look ridiculous!"

I furrowed my eyebrows in annoyance. My height was perfectly fine for my age.

I was about to tell Kevin that, but suddenly, the doorbell downstairs rang. "That should be my pals," Kevin said. "I'm going to go answer the door." With that, Kevin pushed past me and strode off downstairs.

I let out a groan. Standing besides me, Hat let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I guess that idea went into the dump. Why don't you and me just follow my idea, get a new costume, and spend the night trick-or-treating, okay?"

I turned to glare at Hat, and he immediately recoiled. Without saying a word, I stormed off out of Kevin's room and headed towards the attic.

"Eddie, what are you doing?" Hat asked, worried, as he followed me.

"I don't give a damn what my brother says," I replied to Hat as I stormed up the attic stairs. "I'm going to scare Courtney tonight."

"Come on, Eddie," Hat groaned, reluctantly following close by. "There are better things to do tonight."

I ignored Hat and opened the attic door. Crawling inside, I strode over to one of the boxes in the attic, containing one of Kevin's Mud Monster costumes. On the top of the lid, it read,

 **Do Not Touch - That Means You, Bugs**

I ignored the warning and picked up the box and carried it out of the attic. As I did, I peaked over the railing downstairs to see what Kevin and his friends were doing. I saw him and his pals chatting with each other excessively on the couch, facing away from the stairs. I grinned, and headed towards the stairs.

"Eddie, don't do this," Hat warned me. "You're gonna get us into a lot of trouble when Kevin finds out you took his costume."

I shushed him and headed down the stairs, quietly so Kevin and his pals didn't notice. Letting out a groan, Hat followed me.

Kevin and his friends were too busy talking with each other about how they were going to scare so many people tonight that they didn't notice me and Hat slip past them. Quickly, I opened the door, and me and Hat zoomed outside.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh," Hat said repeatedly once we were outside. "This is a terrible idea."

"More like a _terrifying_ idea," I replied as I set the box on the grass and removed the lip, revealing the folded-up Mud Monster costume. "When Courtney sees me in this, she won't know what hit her. Even better, it'll be in front of the whole class! They'll witness with their own eyes how scared she'll become!"

"Eddie-" Hat started, but I interrupted him.

"Let's go!" I said, putting the lid back on, picking up the box, and heading off into the woods in the direction of Butcher's Cabin.

Hat sighed. "The things I do for my friends," He groaned.

With that, he followed close behind me.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	4. Chapter 4

_Matt: Sure thing._

 _Al Drin Hoshizora: Indeed. How would you know?_

* * *

At the local candy shop, Courtney and Denise strode out of the doors, their candy bags filled with all sorts of Halloween-themed sweets. Molly and Charlene trailed after them awkwardly, somewhat embarrassed to be seen around their so-named rival.

"Your costume looks wonderful, Courtney," A random woman complimented Courtney as the girls walked down the sidewalk.

"Thank you, Mrs. Murphy," Courtney replied, giving a courtesy in respect. " _Bride of Frankenstein_ is one of my favorite horror movies, so I wanted to get the Bride design down to every last detail. Me and my mother spent nearly an hour working on every last aesthetic."

"Well you're quite the artist," Mrs. Murphy told her. "Have a happy Halloween."

Behind Courtney, Molly and Charlene groaned. "Does she have to be such a showoff?" The former whispered to the latter.

"I know, right?" Charlene whispered back. "I'm starting to regret the two of us spending the night with her. We shouldn't have left Eddie."

The two girls were interrupted when Courtney suddenly spun around to face them. For a moment, they thought she'd overheard their conversation, but instead, she asked happily, "Are you enjoying yourselves?"

The two girls remained silent for a few moments. Eventually, Molly spoke through gritted teeth, "Yes, Courtney."

"Great!" Courtney said, clasping her hands together. "Then you'll love our sleepover party! Then again, how could you _not_? After all, it was all set up by me!"

Molly and Charlene glanced at each other with raised eyebrows. "Sure, Courtney," Molly said, rolling her eyes.

Courtney grinned, and turned and continued walking down the sidewalk, gesturing for the other three girls to follow her. They stepped off the sidewalk and crossed the street, heading towards the dark woods.

As the girls entered the forest, Charlene immediately began shivering. "Um, are we sure coming here was a good idea?" She asked as she looked around in fear. She could hardly see a thing in the forest at night.

"Don't be a baby," Denise sneered at her. "If you're spooked of these woods, you won't last an hour in Butcher's Cabin. Besides, you'll have me and Courtney here to protect you."

Charlene narrowed her eyes. "Gee, that makes me feel so much safer," She said sarcastically.

Suddenly, the girls heard the sound of a twig snapping. Immediately, Charlene let out a squeak and rushed towards Molly, huddling close towards her for comfort. "What was that?!" She asked, spooked.

Slowly, Courtney approached the nearby bush where they had heard the twig snap. She squinted her eyes as she closely scanned the area for any sign of movement. A few moments passed, and the only sounds the girls heard was that of an owl hooting from above.

Eventually, Courtney merely shrugged and turned to face the other girls. "It was probably just an animal," She rationalized. "Nothing to be afraid of."

The other three girls stared at Courtney with uncertainty. Ignoring their stares, Courtney said, "Come on, we're going to be late." She then continued walking down the pathway, and reluctantly, the other three girls followed.

As the four girls left, they didn't notice two boys rise from behind the bushes, staring after them as they vanished from view.

* * *

"That was a close one," I whispered to Hat, keeping my voice down in case the girls came back. "I thought I told you to be careful? You nearly blew our cover."

"Sorry," Hat replied, crouched by my side. "It's hard to see in these woods."

"That's what makes it scary," I reminded him. "If we're going to scare Courtney, it needs to be _really_ scary. And what better time and place than a haunted house, in a deep, dark forest, on Halloween?"

"I don't know," Hat confessed.

I set the box down on the ground and removed the lid before pulling out the Mud Monster costume. Mud immediately began dripping down my hands and wrists, but I ignored it and continued to unfold the costume.

"Help me put this on," I instructed Hat. I unzipped the costume before handing it to Hat, then turned around and waited for Hat to put the costume onto me.

"Ew," Hat groaned as he felt the soft muck on the costume sliver down his hands. "You know, Eddie, I'm starting to think this isn't a good idea."

"Shut up," I snapped at me, turning to look over my shoulder and glare at me. "For too long we've let Courtney show us up, but not anymore! Tonight, we're finally going to get her back for all the times she's humiliated us!"

"Yeah, but what about Molly and Charlene?" Hat asked, even as he began to help me put on the costume. "They're with Courtney, too. Won't they be caught in the prank?"

I paused for a moment to contemplate. I didn't _want_ to scare my friends, but at the same time, it was their fault for not only abandoning me and Hat, but also hanging out with my sworn enemy.

"It doesn't matter," I said after thinking it over. "Besides, at least they'll be there to witness Courtney freak out, along with the rest of the class!"

Hat looked uncertain, but said nothing. Instead, he backed away as I became fully costumed. It was rather large and bulky, and didn't quite fit, just like my brother warned, but if anything, that would just make the costume seem even more real. Me shambling around awkwardly would make me look like a zombie, and wasn't that what the Mud Monsters were essentially?

"How do I look?" I asked, staring at Hat through the Mud Monsters' pitch black eyes.

Hat's eyes widened as he stared at me. After a few moments, he said, impressed, "Spooky."

"Great!" I said, and began shuffling about in the costume. "If you buy it, then so will the other kids. Especially Courtney." I smirked as I pictured the look on her face when she saw me.

"Come on, let's go!" I said, and began shuffling towards Butcher's Cabin as fast as I could, Hat following close by.

* * *

Shortly after Hat and I had left my house, my brother and his friends had gone upstairs towards the attic to retrieve their costumes. However, when they entered the attic, they had discovered that one of their costumes was missing. Specifically, the one Kevin was going to wear.

"Where is it?!" Kevin was shouting as he scoured the attic for his costume. "I thought I left it out in the open for me to see!"

"It couldn't have gone anywhere," Vic, one of Kevin's friends, a tall and lanky dark-haired boy, said to him.

"Yeah, it's not like it just grew legs and walked off on its own," Gregory, a rather plump and short boy, added.

At that, Kevin froze up. Something seemed to click in his head, and realization settled in. Slowly, he turned to face his friends, a look of pure shock on his face. Then, his eyes darkened and his eyebrows furrowed.

"No, it couldn't have," He spoke through gritted teeth. "But I know what could."

With that, he pushed past his friends and stormed down the hallway and down the stairs. Confused, his friends followed him, carrying the boxes containing the Mud Monster costumes. They followed Kevin as he stormed out of the house and towards his truck.

"Get in," Kevin growled to his friends as he hoped into the drivers's seat and started the truck. Still confused, Vic and Gregory stepped inside the backseat of the truck. Moments later, Kevin reversed the truck out of the driveway and started driving down the streets.

"Um, Kevin, where are we going?" Vic asked.

"To find my brother," Kevin replied through gritted teeth. "And let me tell you; he'd better start digging some graves, because when I find him, he is _dead_!"

* * *

 _Read and review._


	5. Chapter 5

_Matt: They're going to be more than freaked out..._

 ** _A/N: This chapter will be told from a third-person perspective, to keep things from becoming confused._**

* * *

When the four girls arrived at Butcher's Cabin in the middle of the woods, there was already a crowd of children gathered at the cabin's entrance. They were all dressed up in generic Halloween costumes, and everyone present wore expressions of either nervousness or eagerness.

Striding up to the front of the crowd, Courtney called out, "Happy Halloween, everybody! I'm so glad that you've all accepted my invitations! This night will be the best Halloween ever!"

There were murmurs of wary agreement from the children. Evidently, quite a few of them were somewhat spooked at the prospect of spending the night in the cabin of an alleged serial killer.

Courtney, seemingly oblivious to everyone's looks of concern, went on. "Well, what are you waiting for?" She asked everybody. "Let's go. Me and Denise have already set up the party inside the cabin." She pushed the door open and gestured for everyone to follow her inside.

After hesitating for a few moments, the children crowded inside the cabin. As they did, Courtney started commenting on each kid as they passed by.

"Love your mummy costume, Mary," She said to one girl. "Your werewolf costume could use some work, Derek. And that Dracula costume is highly inaccurate, Benjamin. . ."

As the children slowly vanished into the cabin, nobody noticed two figures peak out from behind the bushes, watching Courtney from afar, mischievous intent clear in their eyes.

"Yes, enjoy your little slumber party while you can, Courtney," Eddie whispered deviously as he watched Courtney vanish inside the cabin. "Soon, you'll find out how scary Halloween can _truly_ be. . ."

Crouched beside him, Hat turned to face him. "Dude, seriously, could you tone down the creep factor?" He asked. "You're giving _me_ the heebie-jeebies."

"Sorry," Eddie replied absentmindedly, not facing Hat. Instead, he continued to eye the cabin where their classmates had just vanished wouldn't admit it, but the sight of Butcher's Cabin was giving him the creeps. Even without the legend surrounding it, the cabin simply _looked_ haunted. There were cobwebs on the roof, the wood looked old and worn out, and some sections of the cabin were dented and broken. And that was just the outside; Eddie didn't want to know what was on the inside.

As he stared at the cabin, he began to have second thoughts on his plan. He wanted desperately to scare Courtney, preferably in front of the whole class, but at the same time, he definitely didn't want to step foot into an alleged haunted house.

If he wanted to scare Courtney, he'd have to make her come out of the cabin.

"Um, Eddie?" Hat asked, giving the redhead a nudge, snapping Eddie out of his thoughts.

"We need to get Courtney out of the cabin," He said quickly. "Lure her out into the woods. Then, I'll be able to catch her totally off-guard in my costume!"

"Well how are we going to do that?" Hat asked.

Eddie scratched his chin, deep in thought. He quickly mapped out several different plans, but each one led to a dead end.

It wasn't long before Eddie realized that his objective may be harder than he had anticipated.

* * *

The interior of Butcher's Cabin was indeed eerier than the exterior, in no small part due to the "additions" Courtney and Denise had added to it during the weeks leading up to the slumber party.

Several corners of the house were covered with massive cobwebs, some larger than the children themselves. Some of the lights were out, shrouding the cabin in partial darkness. On the floor, there were several dark stains that the children were careful to avoid. And on the walls, there was red paint meant to resemble blood, courtesy of Courtney and Denise.

With the slight tweaking of the two girls, the already creepy house had been transformed into a truly scary residence.

Already, the other children were shaking in their costumes. Courtney, however, didn't seem to notice.

"Come on," She said to the other children. "Let's go upstairs. There, I'll fill you in on the legend of Old Man Butcher." With that, she began to head upstairs, Denise following close behind.

The other children glanced at each other for a few moments. Then, they followed Courtney and Denise up the stairs.

Whether they were beginning to have any doubts about accompanying Courtney to Butcher's Cabin, it was too late to leave now.

* * *

Kevin drove his truck through the forest, his eyes red with fury.

He couldn't believe that after he explicitly told his younger brother not to take his Mud Monster costume, he'd went and done just that. Now Eddie had spoiled his plans for the night, and not only that, was running the risk of damaging the costume out in the forest.

He was _so_ dead.

Kevin was currently heading towards Butcher's Cabin, which is where he assumed Eddie would be. It had been a long time since he'd been to Butcher's Cabin, so his memory on its exact location was fuzzy, but he was sure he'd be able to reach it in time to catch Eddie.

"Hey Kevin, we're passing through Muddy Creek," Vic warned from the backseat. "You might want to be careful."

"I know what I'm doing," Kevin reassured Vic, though secretly, he doubted the validity of his own words. It was very dark outside, making it difficult for Kevin to see, and the moonlight was obscured by the large branches looming over the truck. He had his headlights on to allow him to see better, but even then, it was difficult to transverse through the roads.

Suddenly, a dark figure appeared on the roads. "Look out!" Vic cried out in panic as the headlights flashed across the figure, revealing a deer crossing the road. The large animal whipped its head in the direction of the truck and froze up.

"Crap!" Kevin shouted, and immediately swerved to avoid the animal. In doing so, he drove the truck off the road and sent it through the woods. The vehicle tumbled through the woods, getting scratched against low hanging branches in the process, and finally came to a stop on top of a muddy bank.

Luckily, the three teenagers were unhurt. After recovering from the initial shock, Kevin glanced outside the truck's window and saw that the truck was currently in Muddy Creek. Immediately, he whispered a curse word under his breath.

Behind him, Vic and Gregory were on the verge of a panic attack. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Gregory repeated, biting his fingernails. "We're in Muddy Creek! We're in Muddy Creek!"

"We're going to get eaten by the Mud Monsters!" Vic shouted out in a panic. "We're gonna die!"

"Shut up, ya sissies!" Kevin bellowed from the front-seat of the truck. "We're not gonna die! The only one who's dead tonight is Eddie!"

Immediately, Kevin revved up his engine and stepped on the gas to move the truck out of the mud. Initially, the truck didn't budge, but after a few moments, it started to move. Soon, it had freed itself from the mud and was moving slowly across the creek.

Eventually, the dirty truck had left the creek, and Kevin drove the truck up the hill and towards the road. "See, what did I tell you?" He asked, turning to face Vic and Gregory, a smug look on his face.

Vic and Gregory glanced at each other, then started chuckling, somewhat embarrassed that they had been so afraid in the first place.

Soon, the truck was on the road again, and the trio continued towards Butcher's Cabin, soon forgetting they had been in Muddy Creek in the first place.

However, as they left, they didn't notice the creek begin to rumble and shake. They didn't see the large runnel began to morph and expand and engulf the tracks left by the truck's wheels.

And they definitely didn't see the large, wet, muddy hand burst out of the ground of Muddy Creek.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	6. Chapter 6

_Matt: Thanks._

* * *

The room Courtney and her classmates were currently in was dark, illuminated solely by a single candlestick. The large group was sitting on the floor, all of them facing Courtney, the only one standing. There was a huge bag of candy laying at the side of her feet.

"Alright everybody, soon, all of the candy I've brought will be free for all of you," Courtney informed her guests. "But before you even touch any of those sweets, I have a special little story to tell all of you."

Hearing this, Molly and Charlene felt their shoulders bunch up. For a moment, they thought Courtney was going to tell another exaggerated tale about the events of "that night".

However, a wave of relief flooded over them when Courtney said, "Allow me to tell you the story of Old Man Butcher."

The other costumed guests immediately felt their blood run cold. Some of the children huddled close to each other, bracing themselves to listen to Courtney's tale. A few others closed in, eager to hear what Courtney had to say.

Courtney took a seat in front of the rest of the group, the glowing candlestick lighting up her face in the darkness. She waited until everyone was facing her, and then gave a large grin that gave everyone the shivers.

"Everyone beware, you're in for a scare."

* * *

Outside in the forest, Hat and I surveyed the house from afar, trying to come up with a plan to lure Courtney out into the open. We weren't sure how long we'd been hiding, but by now, I could feel the Mud Monster costume I was wearing begin to freeze up in the cold, causing the mud to stick to my skin.

Suddenly, I felt like I couldn't wait much longer. I had to act now.

Turning to Hat, I whispered, "Hat, take some rocks and branches and hit the cabin, just loud enough so our classmates will hear us."

"Why?" Hat asked.

"Just do it," I ordered him, narrowing my eyes at him.

Hat rolled his eyes, but nevertheless stood up, snapped off a low-hanging tree branch, and trudged out of the bushes and towards the cabin, muttering a few curse words under his breath as he did.

* * *

"Let me ask you a question, boys and girls: is evil made or born?"

The guests remained silent at Courtney's question, some of them scratching their heads as they searched for an answer while others simply stared at Courtney, waiting for her to continue.

When she received no answer, Courtney continued. "Well, that's a question many people have in regards to Old Man Edward Butcher. Some people say that once upon a time, he was a normal man, no different than you and me. Others say he was born a monster. They say a demon was latched onto his very soul the moment he was born."

Nobody spoke a word, all eyes still on Courtney.

"Back in the day, before any of us were born, Edward Butcher grew up in this town," Courtney explained to everyone. "He had a normal job, had friends, a family. He didn't seem outwardly different from anyone. But no one suspected that there may have been a darkness in this seemingly normal man, a darkness that may have made him more of a monster than the actual monsters that lurk in the woods."

As she spoke, some of the kids thought they could hear the sound of feet crunching grass outside the cabin. However, they were too engrossed in Courtney's story to pay it much attention.

"It started with simply people vanishing," Courtney continued. "Not a lot. Maybe one person every three months. Freaky, maybe, but not enough to get people too suspicious. But as the years went by, those disappearances started becoming more frequent. And it didn't matter who you were, either; men, women, children, nobody was safe. People started getting scared."

Courtney slowly drew away from the flame, obscuring her face in the darkness so that everyone could hardly see her.

"Few people expected Old Edward Butcher, though, even at the peak of the disappearances," She continued. "Not at first. But soon, people began to notice the strange smell that seemed to come from his cabin, where we're seated right now. And his family was showing themselves in town less and less. It wasn't enough for people to flat-out start accusing him, but it was raising a few eyebrows."

Courtney paused when, in the dim lighting, she noticed one child raise his hand. "Yes, Devin?"

"Excuse me for asking, but how was he found out?" The boy dressed as a phantom, Devin, asked.

"I was just getting to that," Courtney said with a grin. "You see-"

 _Thunk!_

Everyone jumped a bit, even Courtney, as they heard a loud noise coming from outside the cabin. Immediately, everyone went silent, hoping to hear the noise more clearly.

 _Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!_

Slowly, a steady tapping sound echoed from outside the cabin. It sounded like something was striking the walls of the cabin.

"What is that?" Denise asked.

"I-It's probably just a tree," Courtney rationalized. "Let's get back to the story."

 _CRASH!_

Everyone jumped in fright as they heard the sound of a window getting smashed open. They knew immediately that it wasn't a simple tree.

"What is that?" Charlene asked, frightened, as she huddled close to Molly for comfort.

"I don't know," Molly replied, wrapping her arms around Charlene.

One girl, who was dressed as a mummy, turned to Courtney and said, "Courtney, why don't you go check it out."

"Why?" Courtney asked. Unlike everyone else, who were quivering in fear, Courtney only seemed vaguely annoyed.

"You did fight off those Mud Monsters a year back," One boy, dressed as a werewolf, pointed out. "Why don't you just go check downstairs for a second."

"It's probably just the wind having blown a tree branch through the window," Courtney dismissed, her face emotionless.

"Can you just check?" Molly asked, irritation clear in her voice.

Courtney whipped her head in Molly's direction, her eyebrows furrowed. However, as she glanced at everyone present, her gaze softened, and she eventually grumbled, "Fine, I'll go. But you're all gonna feel real silly when I come back and tell you it was nothing."

With that, she stalked off out of the room to go downstairs.

* * *

Outside, Hat listened to the conversation through the broken window. He hadn't heard all of it, but he had heard enough to know that his plan had succeeded. Dropping the tree branch, he turned and dashed into the woods where I was hiding, hoping Courtney wouldn't see him.

"I did it, Eddie," Hat informed me. "Courtney is coming to check out the broken window."

"Excellent," I replied. "When Courtney comes downstairs and inspects the window, we'll make some more noise and lure her out into the woods. Then, I'll jump out and surprise her. In the darkness, she won't know it's me! She'll totally flip out!"

"Get down," Hat whispered as he saw Courtney coming. Immediately, both of us ducked under the bushes and watched as the faint silhouette of Courtney appeared downstairs.

The two of us watched intently as Courtney strode over towards the broken window. She touched the edges of the shattered glass, then peaked her head out of the window and looked outside into the forest. In the darkness, she was unable to see us.

I prepared myself to start making zombie noises to lure Courtney into the woods. As I did, I could just picture Courtney's look of sheer terror when she saw me.

It looked like my plan was going to work out after all.

 _"BUGS!"_

Me and Hat froze up, our blood running cold, as we heard an all-too-familiar voice behind us. Slowly, the two of us turned around, and our skin paled when we saw who it was.

There, standing with the most enraged look on his face he could muster, was Kevin, his truck parked in the distance.

And just like that, my plan went downhill.

"H-Hey, Kev," I stuttered. Kevin didn't reply; he simply continued to stare at me, a murderous glint in his eyes, causing me to gulp.

At that moment, I knew that I was _dead_.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	7. Chapter 7

_Matt: Oh, getting pummeled is the least of his problems, as you'll find out soon enough..._

* * *

"Look Kevin, I know you're upset," I was telling Kevin, my hands raised and motioning for him to calm down. "But I have a perfectly good explanation for all of this."

"And what would that be?" Kevin asked through gritted teeth. His face was red and his eyes were bloodshot, and I could tell he was just barely restraining himself from letting me have it.

I was about to give an answer, but nothing came out of my mouth. I realized with horror that I'd totally forgotten why I'd even come out here in the first place.

"Well, uh, you see. . ." I mumbled, sounding like a toddler trying to say his first words.

It appeared Hat noticed that my tongue was a bit tied, as he stepped in on my behalf. "What your brother is trying to say is that it's Halloween, and you can't go trick-or-treating without a costume," He explained. "Kids will be kids, you know?"

Kevin didn't seem convinced. "Well, if you think you're old enough to act like a big kid, you're gonna be treated like a big kid," He growled. "Come here!"

Before either of us could react, Kevin grabbed the two of us by the collars and hoisted us into the air. "Hey, Kevin, let us go!" I shouted, struggling, though it was a futile effort.

"No can do, Bugs," Kevin said as he dragged us towards his truck. "Vic and me think you need to be more acquainted with the toilet seat!"

"No, Kevin, no!" I shouted, trashing even more in his grip, once again, to no avail.

Hat wasn't even struggling. He was just limp in Kevin's other hand, not moving. However, he was looking at me with the biggest death glare he could muster.

"If we survive this, _I'm_ gonna kill you," He mouthed to me.

I groaned. Could this Halloween get any worse?

"Hey!"

Kevin immediately froze up and spun around, releasing me and Hat in the process. The two of us dropped down onto the ground and immediately sat upright, turning our heads in the direction of whoever had spoken.

After a few seconds, our vision cleared and our eyes landed on the person.

It was Courtney. The blonde was standing in front of the bush the two of us had been hiding behind. Her hands were on her hips and she had her eyebrow raised at the three of us.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her gaze fixed on me in particular.

For once, I was actually relieved to see her. "Oh thank goodness," I said, wiping some sweat off my forehead. I was hoping that somehow, Courtney would find a way to get me out of this.

"Well, are you going to answer me?" Courtney asked. "I don't have all night." She was evidently annoyed at having to leave the cabin.

Kevin stepped forward. "Nothing, just my kid brother acting like his normal self," He said. "It's none of your business."

Courtney acknowledged Kevin for only a moment, then shifted her gaze back to me. "Why are you sweating mud?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

It was then that I remembered that I was still wearing Kevin's Mud Monster costume. My eyes widened in horror and I immediately scrambled towards the darkness, hoping Courtney wouldn't see the costume and figure out my plan.

Alas, it was too late.

"Are you dressed as a. . . Mud Monster?" Courtney asked, stepping deeper into the woods. She examined me closely, and her eyes widened when she realized she was right. Then, her eyes narrowed as she put two-and-two together.

"Oh no," She said, shaking her head. "No. Eddie, _please_ don't tell me you're _this_ stupid."

"I think stupid would be an understatement," Kevin muttered under his breath.

"You thought you could waltz up into my slumber party in your stupid Mud Monster and try to scare me, is that it?" Courtney accused, putting her hands on her hips. "Make me look like a scaredy-cat in front of everyone, right?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. I knew I'd been caught red-handed.

Courtney snorted. "Well looks like that didn't work out so well, did it?" She asked. "Just like every single other time. You _failed_ , Eddie."

I glared up at Courtney, gritting my teeth. However, my gaze softened and I looked to the ground in shame, realizing with dread that she was right. I _had_ failed.

Just like every single other time.

Courtney seemed to notice my silence. "Nothing to say, huh?" She asked. "What's wrong? Mud Monster got your tongue?"

"Hey, leave him alone," Hat said, stepping between me and Courtney.

Courtney shoved him away. "You're no better than him!" She snapped. "You're just a bunch of stupid, immature boys. I can't believe we're in the same grade. Now, why don't you do me a favor and get out of here!" She pointed towards Kevin's truck in the distance.

Normally, I would have come up with a retort. Some witty comeback. Or simply shot her a nasty glare.

But not this time. I didn't have the spirit.

All I did was stand up, turn around, and walk slowly towards Kevin's truck, my gaze forlorn. I didn't speak a word; I just walked.

"Come on!" Kevin said to Hat, grabbing him by the wrist and half-dragging him after me. "You're going right back home where you belong!"

Vic and Gregory were waiting for us at the truck. "Took you long enough!" Vic said with an annoyed tone, leaning on one side of the truck. "The two of us were about to bail!"

I barely even acknowledged them. I simply opened the truck door and took a seat inside, my head lowered. Hat followed soon afterwards, along with Gregory.

Kevin and Vic entered the truck soon afterwards. My brother slammed the truck door shut and started the engine.

Within seconds, we were driving down the road, away from Butcher's Cabin and towards town.

* * *

A distance away, Courtney watched as the truck disappeared from view, a satisfied look on her face. _Serves them right,_ she thought.

"What an idiot," She said to herself. "I mean, did he really think that costume would scare me? He doesn't even _look_ like a Mud Monster. I should know; I actually saw 'em!"

She was about to turn around and head back to the cabin when she heard a low, growling sound, coming from deep in the darkness of the woods.

Immediately, she froze up. She'd only heard it once before, but she recognized that growling.

Turning towards the direction of the sound, her body tensed up as she saw a tall, massive figure, standing in the shadows, leering down at her. It let out low growls and wheezes as it stood motionless in the darkness.

Courtney's blood ran cold. _No_ , she thought. _It can't be._

Slowly, the figure stepped out of the shadows in full view of Courtney. Her pupils shrank as she saw its black, empty eyes. Its large, gaping mouth.

But most of all, it's mud-covered flesh.

She knew it wasn't a prank this time.

There, standing right in front of Courtney, was a _real_ Mud Monster.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	8. Chapter 8

_Godzilla183: Oh, she'll be getting more than just a scare..._

* * *

None of us had said a word ever since we'd gotten in the truck. Once Kevin stepped on the breaks and we'd taken off, the truck had been eerily silent. It was like everyone there was wondering what Kevin was going to do to me once we got home.

However, that wasn't on my mind at the moment. All I could think about was that I had _failed._ Again.

I had failed at scaring Courtney for what seemed like the thousandth time. Every time it seemed like I'd come up with a foolproof plan to terrify her, something happened to botch it up. I thought for sure tonight would be different, but I was wrong.

Was I simply cursed to always fail against Courtney? Was she simply too smart, and more importantly, too brave, for me to succeed against her? It sure seemed like it.

Sitting next to me, Hat tried to break the silence by whispering, "So Eddie, this is going to be some story to tell the rest of the class tomorrow, huh?"

"I'm not in the mood, Herbie," I replied, depressed.

Hat's eyes widened, surprised that I'd referred to him by his real name. "Dude, what's up with you?"

I sighed. "You think maybe Courtney really is better than us?" I asked him. "You think we should just accept that she's our superior?"

Hat raised an eyebrow. "Eddie, did you get possessed by a ghost or something?" He asked.

"No," I groaned. "It's just, every time we try to scare Courtney, we fail. She already outwits us. Maybe we really can't scare her."

Hat stared at me, worried, but before he could reply, Kevin craned his neck around and shouted from the driver's seat, "Hey, pipe down back there!"

We immediately shut up. We were both in big trouble anyways, so we'd rather not make things even harder on us.

Next to Kevin, Vic squinted his eyes forward and said, "Hey, Kev, do you see something on the road?"

Kevin turned to stare at Vic. "What are you talking about?" He asked in an annoyed tone.

"There's something on the road," Vic said, gesturing to a figure in the distance. "It's big, tall, and- _we're about to crash right into it_!"

Immediately, Kevin whipped his head to the front to see that they were driving right towards the figure. His eyes widened as the truck's headlights illuminated the figure, letting us see what it was. Once we did, a mutual look of horror crossed our faces.

It was a Mud Monster.

"Holy shit!" Vic blurted out in shock. Quickly, Kevin made a violent swerve, causing the truck to spin out of control. We narrowly avoided the Mud Monster, but the truck crashed into a nearby tree. The collision jolted all of us, and I nearly crashed into the back of Kevin's seat.

For a moment, we all sat, dazed, in the truck. "Are you guys alright?" Kevin asked us.

"No," We all groaned.

Kevin turned his head towards the rear view mirror, and his eyes widened as he saw the Mud Monster begin to approach the truck. "We got to get out of here!" He said, and unbuckled his seatbelt. The rest of us followed suite.

Kicking the door open, Kevin crawled out of the downed truck. "Come on, get out!" He shouted at us, yanking the other doors open. We made our way out of the truck as well, me half-dragging an injured Hat.

The Mud Monster let out a growl as it approached us quickly. It rose its arm in the air and brought it down towards Gregory. It missed, and struck the open door, snapping it off the truck's hinges.

"Let's go!" I shouted, and we immediately took off down the road before the Mud Monster could strike again.

"Did that really just happen?!" Gregory asked as we ran, almost in denial. "Did we really see that thing back there?!"

"That can't be possible!" I shouted, even though we all knew it was true. "There's no full moon out! They couldn't just-"

"Watch out!" Vic shouted, and pushed me out of the way to avoid getting swiped by another Mud Monster that had lunged out at me from the woods. I crashed onto the ground with a thud, stunned.

"Get up!" Kevin shouted, roughly pulling me to my feet. As we did, several glowing eyes began to appear throughout the forest, staring at us. The sound of large footsteps filled the air, surrounding us from all sides.

As we watched on in horror, more Mud Monsters began to appear, lumbering out of the woods and onto the road, towards us.

Their jaws expanded to reveal a seemingly endless abyss that was their mouths. Mud dripped from their bodies and splatted onto the ground as they walked. Their massive arms were outstretched, ready to grab us.

A horrible reality dawned upon us that the events of last year were repeating themselves.

Except this time, we wouldn't be escaping that easily.

* * *

Inside the cabin, the kids had grown mildly irritated the longer it took for Courtney to return. As they waited anxiously, Charlene had broken apart from the group and headed down the stairs to explore the cabin.

The cabin was rather drab and boring, and looked like it had been abandoned for decades. Charlene decided to head to parts of the cabin that she hadn't explored yet, and walked towards the basement door.

As she reached out to twist the doorknob, she hesitated for a moment. It dawned upon her that if Old Man Butcher was a serial killer, like everyone said, was his cabin _really_ the type of place that should be explored.

Before she could ponder on the question further, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. The sudden touch caused her to let out a shriek and whirl around in a panic.

It was Denise.

"Have you seen Courtney?" She asked Charlene, who calmed down after seeing who it was. She shook her head.

"She's been outside too long," Denise told her. "I'm going to go looking for her. Are you coming?"

"I. . . I'd rather stay," Charlene said, her hands shaking. Denise shrugged, and turned to head out the door.

As she left, Molly walked down the stairs. "Where's Denise going?" She asked as she saw Denise close the door.

"She's looking for Courtney," Charlene replied.

"And you let her go?" Molly asked. Charlene shrugged.

"If Courtney's not back by now, something must have happened to her," Molly pointed out, approaching Charlene. "We have to follow Denise to make sure they're alright."

"But it's warm and not-as-scary in here," Charlene protested.

"Come on!" Molly snapped, and grabbed Charlene by the wrist before half-dragging the other girl out the door after Denise.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	9. Chapter 9

_Godzilla183: Maybe, maybe not..._

 _Matt: I guess._

* * *

Courtney was scared. It was an unnatural feeling to her, something that was almost alien to her. But now, as she rushed through the dark forest, sweat pouring down her skin and her hair covered in leaves, the only thing coursing through her was pure, terrifying fear.

She had panicked upon seeing the Mud Monster before her and rushed into the forest to escape its grasp, immediately forgetting about the party in the cabin. In her hurry to escape, she had found herself lost in the woods.

She was so busy running that she wasn't looking where she was going, and tripped on a twig, causing her to crash onto the wet, marshy ground. Scrambling to her hands and feet, she crawled quickly towards a large log and hid behind it.

She had lost sight of the Mud Monster ever since she had started running. As she pressed herself against the log, she looked around, surveying the area for any sign of the undead behemoth. She kept on her guard, ready to flee at the first sound.

For several moments, she neither saw nor heard anything. The only thing she could hear was her own ragged breathing, and the sound of her heart beating violently in her chest. She pressed her hand against her heart to try to get it under control.

With the Mud Monster nowhere to be found, Courtney tried to collect her thoughts. _If one Mud Monster was about, surely there must be more lurking about in the woods. But why would they be up and about when there wasn't a full moon out. Unless something, or someone, had disturbed their rest..._

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off when she felt a sliver of mud drip onto her head. Immediately, her body tensed up. Slowly, shivering with fear, Courtney cast her eyes upwards.

And into the soulless gaze of the Mud Monster as it peered down at her from over the log.

* * *

In another part of the forest, Denise was navigating through the woods, looking for Courtney.

"Courtney, where are you?" She called out, but received no answer.

"Come on, she can't have gone far," She said to herself. As she continued walking, she felt someone tap her lightly on the shoulder and promptly whirled around in surprise, ready to clock whoever had touched her. However, she calmed down when she saw who it was.

"Molly, Charlene, what are you two doing out here?" She asked as she saw the two interchangeable girls standing before her, an awkward expression on their faces.

"We were following you to see if you were okay," Molly replied, scratching her head.

Denise didn't seem impressed. "I don't need to be babysat," She sneered, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm just looking for Courtney. She's been outside far too long."

"You don't think something happened to her?" Charlene asked, concerned.

"What?" Denise asked with a scoff. "What could possibly happen to-"

She didn't get another word out before she was interrupted by a loud, high-pitched shriek that filled the forest.

Immediately, the three girls scrambled into each other in shock. "What was that?!" Molly asked as she held onto the other two girls for comfort.

"T-That sounded like Courtney!" Charlene said, her teeth chattering.

"No it doesn't!" Denise denied. "Courtney's never screamed!"

"Except for that time she saw a Mud Monster," Charlene pointed out.

The girls fell silent for a moment. Then, Denise took off in the direction of Courtney's scream. "Courtney!" She screamed.

Hesitantly, Molly and Charlene followed.

* * *

Overwhelmed with fear, Courtney scrambled across the marsh to escape the grasp of the massive Mud Monster as it lurched after her, its mouth hanging open as if to devour her.

"Keep away from me!" She shouted in horror as she scrambled to get to its feet. Panicking, she grabbed a large twig and hurled it at the large creature. However, it simply bounced off harmlessly against the Mud Monster's head, barely slowing it down.

Courtney tried to run, but her foot had gotten stuck in the mud. Breathing heavily, she struggled to pull her foot out of the mud. As she did, the Mud Monster approached and raised its arm to strike.

Glancing upwards, Courtney saw the Mud Monster's arm swing down and swiftly dodged its strike. As she did, she yanked her foot free from the mud, causing her to fall on her rump. Shaking off the pain, she quickly got up and prepared to flee.

Before she could get any further, however, the Mud Monster inhaled, and violently hurled a large wad of mud in Courtney's direction. It splattered against her dress, evoking a groan of disgust from the girl. Her eyes widened in horror, however, as the mud began to slowly expand over her dress.

"No!" She shouted, and tore her dress to keep from being submerged in the Mud Monster's sludge. In her distraction, however, she didn't notice the Mud Monster advance towards her. Before she could react, the Mud Monster struck her with its arm, sending her flying into a nearby tree. She slumped onto the ground, dazed from the blow.

The Mud Monster roared and approached the fallen girl. As it extended its long arm towards her, it was suddenly tackled and knocked to the ground.

Courtney lifted her head towards her savior. "K-Kevin?" She whispered, her eyes glazed.

Eddie, Hat, Vic and Gregory appeared out of the shadows. "Courtney?!" Eddie shouted in disbelief as he saw Kevin pick her up off the ground. "What the heck are you doing out here?"

"M-Mud Monster," Courtney stammered out, shaking in Kevin's arms. Normally, Eddie would've taken note of just how terrified Courtney was. But, given the current situation, he scarcely noticed it.

"There are more Mud Monsters in the forest!" Hat told her. "Come on, we have to get out of here, quickly!"

At this moment, Denise showed up, followed by Molly and Charlene. "What's going on?" She asked, her hands on her hips. Within moments, the three girls noticed the Mud Monster on the ground, and they let out horrified screams.

"Come on, we have to go!" Hat cried towards the others. At that moment, loud bellows echoed throughout the woods, and the group could see the silhouettes of several Mud Monsters encircling them.

"We have to move," Kevin said. "Now!"

Quickly, the group took off. Kevin leaped over the large log with the rest of the group following suite, either jumping over it or crawling over. As Denise tried to jump across it, she lost her footing and collapsed on top of the log. As she struggled to get up, one of the Mud Monsters reached out and grabbed her leg, pulling her back.

"Denise!" Courtney cried out in horror. She turned back and ran towards her friend, grabbing her hand in her own and struggled to pull her friend over the log. However, the Mud Monsters' grip was too strong.

The other four kids grabbed onto Courtney and started pulling as well, trying to free Denise from the monster's powerful grip. However, despite her struggles, Courtney's grip on Denise's hand slipped, and she inadvertently released her friend and tumbled backwards into the other four kids, knocking them down.

 _"Courtney!"_ Denise called out in terror as she was dragged down by the Mud Monster.

"No!" Courtney shrieked as her friend was pulled away from her by the monsters. She was about to dive in after her, but Molly grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Courtney, it's too late!" She shouted as she restrained the other girl. "We have to go!"

"But that's my friend!" Courtney screamed, thrashing in Molly's grip. As she did, the Mud Monsters began to close in on the group.

In the distance, Kevin called out, "Guys, come on! We have to go!"

Eddie, Hat, and Charlene scrambled after the older teenagers. Releasing Courtney, Molly did the same.

For a few moments, Courtney stared at the log where Denise had been only a few minutes ago, her body tense. Her knees buckled as he eyes glistened with tears. As the Mud Monsters advanced, she took a few steps back and shook her head, as if in denial.

Then, struggling to hold back her tears, she turned and fled.

* * *

 _Read and reviews._


	10. Chapter 10

_Godzilla183: Uh-huh._

 _Matt: Indeed she did._

 **A/N: Before I continue, just want to clarify: yes, Denise really is dead. No "coming back to life" for this poor kid.**

* * *

We didn't know how long we ran, nor which direction we were going. The only thing on our minds was _survival._

We fled through the woods, hoping to outpace our Mud Monster pursuers. Kevin, Vic and Gregory were in the lead, running like they were in a marathon. They didn't even look back to see if we were keeping up with them. Hat was holding Charlene by the wrist, running while half-dragging her with him. Molly and Courtney were behind us, but their heavy panting and footsteps let me know they were still going.

As repulsive a thought as it was, I almost entertained the idea that Denise could keep the monsters occupied long enough for us to make our escape. It was a disgusting thing to hope for and I knew it; I may not have liked Denise, but her falling prey to the Mud Monsters was the last outcome I would've wished upon the girl. But at the moment, our survival was my main priority.

By now, the Mud Monsters were far out of sight. With the immediate threat gone for the time being, we finally stopped to catch out breaths. The Mud Monsters may have been numerous, but they weren't omnipresent, and it would surely take a while for their lumbering forms to catch up with us.

Gregory slumped against a tree, wheezing heavily after having to over-exert himself. His hand was on his stomach, which rose and fell with each ragged breath. Nearby, Kevin and Vic were leaning forward, their hands on their knees. Hat, Charlene and Molly were huddled close to each other, resting on a log.

"Guys?" Gregory asked, still gulping in breaths. "What do we do now?"

For a few moments, nobody responded. Finally, Molly said, "We have to get back to the cabin."

"Go back to the cabin?" Vic retorted incredulously. "Are you serious? We have to get the heck out of here! Go back to the town!"

"Our classmates are in danger!" Hat argued. "We have to warn them, before the Mud Monsters get them!"

Kevin strode up to my three friends. "Do any of you have a phone on ya?" He asked. The three shook their heads, and Kevin let out an exasperated groan.

"I think some of the kids at the cabin do," Charlene suggested, her hand on Hat's shoulder.

Kevin sighed. "I guess we have no choice," He grumbled. "We have to go back for the little brats."

I nodded. "We better hurry up, then," I said. "Those Mud Monsters could be closing in on us right now. Or worse, the cabin."

As we prepared to head off towards the cabin, my eyes landed on Courtney. The girl was facing away from us, standing still as a statue. Her head hung low, and I could barely make out a small choking sound emitting from her lips.

"C-Courtney?" I whispered, feeling a modicum of concern for my arch-rival. "Are you. . . alright?"

The moment the words left my lips, I realized the sheer stupidity of my question. Not too long ago, she had been forced to abandon her best friend to the Mud Monsters; _of course_ she wouldn't be "alright".

As I silently admonished myself for my stupidity, Courtney whispered, "We shouldn't have left her."

Before I could reply, Vic stated, "It was her or us, kid! If we stayed, we'd have all been dead! Would you have preferred that?"

Courtney whirled around to face him, her eyes filled with rage. "I'd have preferred it if it had been one of you idiots left behind instead of her!" She shouted with a venom she had never used on me.

"Oh yeah?!" Gregory shouted, standing by Vic. "Maybe we should leave _you_ behind to face those Mud Monsters by yourself!"

"Hey!" Kevin bellowed, causing his friends to shrink down. "Knock it off! We have to get going before those Mud Monsters catch up! Move it!" With that, he stormed off in the direction of the cabin.

Courtney strode by me, sticking her tongue out at Vic and Gregory as she walked by. I exchanged glances with the two teens before following the rest of the group towards the cabin.

We had lost Denise. I just hoped we weren't too late to save the others.

* * *

At Butcher's Cabin, the kids invited to Courtney's slumber party had slowly grown restless as Courtney failed to return. Some of the children had started eating the candy Courtney had left despite her requests not to, while others simply wandered around in the living room, bored.

"Where is she?" Megan, a girl dressed as a ghost, asked. "Courtney can't have been outside for that long."

"Do you think she ditched us to go trick or treating?" Paul, a boy dressed as a zombie, replied. "Because that'd be a real dick move if she did."

In the corner, Devin let out a gasp. "Do you think that maybe a Mud Monster got her or something?" He asked.

The other kids turned towards Devin, baffled. "A Mud Monster?" A girl dressed as a fairy said in shock. "That's crazy talk, Devin. Courtney wouldn't let herself get caught by a Mud Monster. She's too cool."

"Well it sure isn't cool to just abandon us," Mary said, putting her hands on her hips. "That's it, I'm leaving. I've wasted too much time as it is." She prepared to head for the door, but stopped when the kids heard a knocking on the door.

"That must be Courtney!" Paul said hopefully.

"Good," Mary said. "She better have an explanation for keeping us waiting." She stormed up to the door and swung it open, prepared to give Courtney a piece of her mind.

However, when she opened the door, it wasn't Courtney standing outside, facing her. Instead, Mary found herself staring into a pair of empty, soulless eyes.

The eyes of a Mud Monster.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	11. Chapter 11

_Son of Starlord: Patience._

 _WyldClaw: Indeed_

 _I am a burglar: Uh-huh._

 _Sorry for the delay. Got caught up in other matters._

* * *

We were rushing towards the cabin as fast as we could. We had to get there before the Mud Monsters reached the cabin or else all the children would be doomed. But even if we did get there first, I had no idea what we were going to do to save them.

As we neared the cabin, the sound of panicked shrieking filled our ears. "Oh no!" Molly shouted in horror as she recognized the voices of the kids in the cabin. "We're too late!"

"No we're not!" Kevin snapped, pointing a finger at Molly. "Come on!" He waved for us to continue and charged towards the cabin. Despite brief hesitation, we obeyed.

Running out the woods, we saw the cabin in sight. To our horror, there was a Mud Monster at the cabin entrance, and in his grip, was an utterly terrified Mary.

"Help me!" She cried as the Mud Monster lifted her up into the air. "Let go of me!" She pounded on the Mud Monster's arms, but it did little damage. It only seemed to irritate the monster further, as it opened its gaping mouth and growled into her face.

I saw Courtney recoil in horror. Before I could think of anything, Kevin, Vic and Gregory rushed forward. Kevin and Vic tackled the Mud Monster, forcing it to release Mary, who was then scooped up by Gregory and rushed into the cabin.

While the Mud Monster was currently being subdued by Kevin and Vic, I could just barely see the silhouette of more of them nearing the woods. "Come on, you guys!" I told the others, mirroring my older brother.

My friends raced towards the cabin door as fast as they could. I followed, but stopped when I saw Courtney standing still, petrified with fear. "Courtney, come on!" I shouted, grabbing her by the wrist and violently dragging her towards the cabin.

As soon as Courtney and I were through the cabin door, Kevin and Vic released the Mud Monster and followed suite. They could see the rest of the Mud Monsters approaching the cabin.

"Come on, come on, get in!" One of the kids, dressed as a mummy, urged the two teens in. The moment they were inside, we slammed the door shut and locked it.

By now, several kids were in the living room, in shock at what they had just seen. "What was that?!" Paul shouted incredulously.

"You know _exactly_ what that was!" Kevin snapped at him. "Now help us keep 'em out!"

Hat turned to a few kids on the left. "You guys!" He said, pointing a finger at them. "Barricade all entrances!"

The kids looked terrified, but they obeyed. Quickly, they took whatever pieces of furniture they could find and stashed them in front of the doors and windows to keep the Mud Monsters from entering.

Mary sat in the center of the room, covered in mud. "Ew," She groaned, hugging herself tightly. "I need a bath!"

"What we need is to keep from getting killed!" I said. No sooner had the words left my mouth that I heard the sound of windows being smashed. Whipping my head around, I saw a Mud Monster punching through one of the windows.

Quickly, Kevin elbowed the monster in the face, knocking it back outside. "Block this window!" He ordered the younger kids. Quickly, they stacked some dressers against the windows to keep the monsters from entering.

I peaked through the barricades. Outside, I could see several Mud Monsters encircling the cabin, watching us with their black, lifeless eyes.

"What are we gonna do?" Charlene asked me.

Gulping, I stuttered, "G-Get everyone upstairs. We'll discuss things there."

As everyone crowded up the stairs, I took one last look outside.

From the looks of it, we wouldn't be leaving this cabin for a while.

* * *

"What's going on?" Paul asked in a panic once we were all upstairs.

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to!" Kevin snapped. "What's going on is that we're trapped in this cabin with mud-covered zombies swarming the forest that will kill us if they get their hands on us. What you _should_ be asking is how we're going to get out of it."

"How about we ask Courtney?" Devin pointed out. "She's dealt with those creatures before, I'm sure she can do it again!"

"Yeah," Mary agreed. Turning to Courtney, she asked, "Courtney, how do we beat them?"

Immediately, Courtney shrunk down as everyone turned to her with hopeful expressions. Sweat dripped from her forehead, and she half-covered her face with her hands and looked down.

"Come on, Courtney," Paul said. "Tell us what to do."

"Well I, you see. . ." Courtney said, stumbling on her words. "The thing is-"

I couldn't believe this was the same fearless person who had been outwitting me and my friends for years. With the state she was in now, I couldn't help but pity her.

Molly stood up and stepped in front of Courtney. "Courtney can't help us anymore than either of us can," She told the other kids. "We need to think of a way to get out of this ourselves."

The hopeful looks on our classmates' faces were replaced with pessimistic despair at the realization that their "hero" wouldn't be able to save them. They sunk to the floor, miserable.

"Come on, you guys," Kevin said. "Those barricades won't hold those Mud Monsters forever! We have to think up a way to escape!"

"I have a phone," One girl, Lucy, pointed out. "I can call the police!"

"Can you call our parents?" Charlene asked.

"Uh, that's gonna be a lot of phone calls. . ."

"Who cares?" Kevin asked, clearly stressed. "Just call _someone_!"

Quickly, Lucy dialed the police. "Um, officers, my name is Lucy Dark," She said once she got an answer. "Uh, we have a situation here. . ."

As the kids attended to trying to call for help, I walked over to the window and peered out. Below, I could see the Mud Monsters, still encircling the cabin, but making no attempts to enter. They peered up at the window to stare at me, causing me to recoil.

I knew, right then, that no matter what, we had to escape.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	12. Chapter 12

_Next chapter up! Will try to update a bit more frequently._

* * *

All they did was stare at us.

While Lucy was busy using her phone to contact whomever the other guest members asked her to, we would take turns peering out of the window to observe the Mud Monsters down below. And each time, we were met with the black, soulless eyes of the creatures that had us under siege. They waited us out, patient, unrelenting, and malicious.

They knew we couldn't stay in the cabin forever. Eventually, we'd have to get out, and when we did, they would strike.

"Have you finished calling the cops?" I heard Kevin ask Lucy a few feet away. "Because I'm gonna need to make a call to my parents to let them know what's going on." He was trying to sound mildly irritated, but I detected a hint of genuine fear in his tone.

"I got done calling the cops a while ago," Lucy reassured him. "But the thing is, everyone's been using my phone to call their parents, and it's starting to run out of-" Before she could finish her sentence, the phone switched off.

"-Batteries," Lucy finished, her shoulders slumping.

Kevin let out a growl of frustration. "So that's it?" He asked, throwing his arms up into the air in exasperation. "The phone is dead? No one else has any means of communication?" He turned to the younger kids, who all shook their heads.

"I told you you should've bought a cellphone," I sniped at my older brother, something I normally wouldn't have said.

Kevin turned around and glared at me. "Watch it, Bugs," He threatened me, shooting me a glare that, under regular circumstances, would've made me piss my pants. But given the current situation, Kevin was the least scary thing going on.

"Is anyone checking the window?" A boy named Sam questioned aloud. Before anyone could answer the question, he strode up to the window and peered outside. He stared out into the night for several moments, not saying a word. We watched him, curiously.

After a few moments, Sam turned to face us. "Hey, I don't see any-"

 _SPLAT!_

Before any of us could comprehend what was happening, a volley of mud zipped through the air and struck Sam dead-center in the chest. The young boy let out a voiceless gasp as he felt the air get ripped from his body by the force of the blow. His glasses dropped from his face and clattered onto the floor at his feet.

"Sam!" Mary shouted in horror.

Sam weakly turned around to face us, his arm outstretched towards us, as if trying, futilely, to grab us.

Then, he slipped out of the window and fell.

A scream filled the air, and it took a few seconds for me to realize it was my own.

We heard Sam's body hit the ground below, and quickly, we rushed forward and crowded against the window, staring down in horror. Down below, we could see Sam's broken body lying on the grass, face down. One arm was twisted unnaturally.

Bile filled my gut as, slowly, the Mud Monsters appeared out of the shadows to gather around their prey.

We couldn't bare to watch. Quickly, we recoiled away from the window and back into the room, to try to spare us the sight of what was to come next.

"This can't be happening!" Charlene shouted out, pulling on her hair. "This can't be happening!" Her teeth started chattering and her knees started to buckle as the night's events began to take their toll on her.

"Charlene!" Hat said, grabbing hold of her and pulling her close to try and comfort her. I watched on in utter pity, my heart shredding as I watched one of my closest friends crumble under the pressure. True, I had been bitter against her for ditching me for Courtney, but all my anger towards her and Molly had faded as soon as the Mud Monsters had shown up.

"We're all gonna die!" Paul screeched.

"No we're not!" I said to him, but my words may as well have fallen upon deaf ears. Charlene had been the first to crack, and like a virus, it started to spread to the other children trapped with us.

"How are we gonna get out of here?" Vic asked no one in particular. "The cops ain't gonna get to us in time!"

"Ask her!" Mary shouted vehemently, pointing a finger at Courtney, who was cowering in the corner. "It's her fault we're even here right now!"

 _Oh no,_ I thought to myself as the inevitable occurred. When things went to Hell so quickly, and people didn't know how they were going to get out of it, it was only a matter of time until they started looking for a scapegoat to take all the blame.

"Yeah!" Paul agreed, shifting from fearful to wrathful within seconds. "It's Courtney's fault we're even here right now! I'd be at home, watching my movies, if she hadn't invited me here!"

"I thought she said she knew how to handle Mud Monsters!" Lucy said, her hands on her hips. "What happened to all of those stories you told us, huh? About how brave you were? If you're so brave, why don't you go down there and get rid of those stinking monsters!"

Courtney gritted her teeth together, shutting her eyes tight and clapping her hands over her ears to block out the criticism. Sweat streamed down her forehead, smearing her makeup, and her hair was in tangles.

Molly stepped in front of the other children. "Back off!" She barked, shoving the nearest kid back. "Blaming her isn't going to solve anything!"

"But it's her fault we're here!" Paul argued.

"Who could've predicted something like _this_ would happen?" Molly asked. "Do you think Courtney led you all here knowing that the Mud Monsters were going to rise from their graves on this specific night? No!"

"But she said she defeated them before!" Mary snapped.

"And you believed her?" Hat butted in. "Did you honestly think those tall tales were true? Anyone with a working brain would've known those were exaggerations designed to stroke a jerk's massive ego!"

At this, the kids began to fall back, a little ashamed. Now that things were somewhat calm, I decided to step in.

"Look, I don't like Courtney, but this is insane," I said to everybody. "We've already called the cops; they'll come in and handle this. We just need to stay put until all of this is over. But the last thing we should be doing is fighting among ourselves. Alright?"

The kids grumbled in agreement.

"Okay," I said. "Now, does anyone have any idea how we could pass the time?"

For a moment, the kids were silent. Then, Devin stepped forward.

"Courtney was telling us a story," He said. "She didn't really get to finish it."

"Alright then," I said, hoping to keep things civil. "Courtney, can you please continue whatever story you were telling."

Courtney shifted her eyes. "I'm not really in the mood. . ."

"Please," I pleaded to her, trying to keep everything together.

After a few moments, Courtney caved. "Fine," She said with a sigh. Weakly waving her arm to everyone, she said in an empty tone, "Gather around, everybody. This is the conclusion of the story of Old Man Butcher."

* * *

 _Read and review._


	13. Chapter 13

_Next chapter up!_

* * *

Deep in the woods, a police car drove down the road towards Old Man Butcher's cabin, a pair of officers squinting their eyes to try and see in the darkness.

"Why can't kids just stay home at night time?" Bob, one of the cops, asked. "I mean, you hosts a slumber party in a serial killer's cabin? And in the middle of the night, in the middle of a forest, for Pete's sake."

"What were the kids shouting about?" Henry, the other cop, asked as he drove the car down another road. "They were all talking over one another. It was so hard to hear what they were saying."

"I think something about these monsters covered in mud," Bob replied casually, smoking a cigarette. "Me personally, I think it was just some trick or treaters those kids thought were monsters."

"Well then what the heck are we even doing out here?" Henry asked, stopping the car in the middle of the car.

"Well, we still got to check up on them, just in case," Bob replied, flicking the cigarette out the window. "You never know what lurks out in these woods."

"Uh-huh," Henry said in a dismissive tone. He peered out of the window and squinted his eyes at a large shape in the distance. "Hey, that seems to be the cabin," He pointed out to his comrade. "Pretty big, too. Not a bad place for a sleepover if not for the fact that it's out here in the middle of the woods."

"Well, enough sight-seeing," Bob said, craning his neck. "Let's just go over there and calm those kid's nerves, tell 'em there are no monsters out here, and then go home."

"Sounds great, Bob," Henry said. Getting out of the car, the two strode towards the cabin, confident that the situation would be over within a few moments.

They didn't notice a pair of black, soulless eyes watching them from the woods as they walked.

* * *

In the room of the cabin, all the kids sat and faced Courtney, attempting to shove the thought of the Mud Monsters as deep into their subconscious as possible as they desperately attempted to focus on the girl sitting in front of them, waiting for her to finish her tale of Old Man Butcher.

Courtney let out a deep sigh. "I forgot which part of the story I was at," She muttered, and I thought I heard her utter a curse word under her breath.

"You were about to tell us how the Butcher was caught," Devin reminded her.

"Oh, right. . ." Courtney said, sounding like she had barely heard him. "Now, what had I been about to say. . ."

I couldn't believe this was Courtney we were looking at. She seemed like a completely different person now. Her eyes were empty sockets, her teeth gritted together as if she hadn't eaten in weeks, and her throat thickened like she had been deprived of water. It was a far cry from the proud, stuck-up girl she had been not too long ago.

Courtney remained silent for a few moments, rubbing her index finger and thumb together. She seemed to be trying to collect her thoughts and choose her words carefully.

Finally, she spoke. "Okay, one thing you need to know about Edward Butcher; he was found out, but he wasn't _caught_ ," She explained to the other kids.

A flurry of confused whispers arose from everyone in the room. "But, how can that be?" Molly asked.

"Let me explain," Courtney said, raising her arm to hush the group. "While people weren't outright accusing him, it was clear that they were starting to get suspicious of him. The smell in the cabin; his family barely showing up to town. It was raising a few eyebrows. But nobody said anything until-"

"Hey, look!" A voice interrupted. Everyone whipped their heads away from Courtney and towards Vic, who was peering out through the window.

"What are you looking at?" Courtney asked, narrowing her eyes.

"It's the cops!" Vic shouted to the younger kids. "They're here!"

Immediately, hope flourished throughout the group. "The cops are here?" Charlene asked, her heart pounding in her chest. "That's great!"

"We're saved!" I shouted, adrenaline coursing through my veins.

Immediately, all of us rushed towards the window, squishing against each other as we looked outside. Sure enough, a pair of police officers were scouring the area outside, a flashlight in one of their hands.

My smile vanished and was replaced with a grimace. " _Two_ cops?" I groaned. "Just two? Did they even hear what we were saying when we called them?"

The other kids didn't seem to share my pessimism. "Hey!" Charlene shouted out towards the cops, waving her arms in the air to get their attention. "We're up here! Look up at us!"

On the ground, Bob raised his flashlight up at the window, causing the other kids to recoil in the blinding light. "Oh, there you guys are!" He shouted when he saw us. "No need to panic; the cops are here now."

Squishing past the other kids, I called out, "Listen to us! You have to get more cops! We need more help!"

Acting like he hadn't even heard us, Henry looked around at the empty area and asked, "So, where are these monsters, anyways?"

"They're out there!" Courtney warned the cops. "In the woods. They're hidden! Listen to us, you need reinforcements!"

"You guys sure it wasn't just some trick or treaters?" Bob called out at us.

I squinted my eyes. _Did he just say what I think he. . ._

"Yes, we're sure it wasn't just some trick or treaters!" I shouted, anger and frustration boiling to the top. "What are you waiting for? Call the station and get as many cops as you can here!"

"Look kid, it's Halloween," Henry called out to us calmly. "It's the time of the year when people dress up in scary costumes. And it's the dead of night, too; I'm sure what you saw was just some folks wearing extra-realistic makeup that _looked_ real in the dead of the night. It's okay, everyone screws up once in a while."

"You're not listening to us!" Molly shouted, irritated. "We're telling you the truth!"

"The kid's right!" Kevin agreed, his bravado faltering and panic clear in his tone. "These creatures have already killed two kids already!"

"Well, where the heck are they?" Henry hollered up at us.

"In the forest!" Molly shouted back.

The two cops craned their necks around and scoured the area, but the woods seemed practically devoid of life. Indeed, the monsters appeared to have vanished during the short time we'd spend focusing on Courtney.

"But. . . they were here not too long ago!" Molly stated. "You have to believe us!"

The cops scrunched up their faces, clearly no buying what we were selling. "Look, you guys seem pretty spooked," Bob said after a few moments of silence, a disingenuous tone in his voice. "Why don't you just get down from there and go home, and stop wasting-"

"AUGH!"

Immediately, all heads whipped in the direction of the scream. We saw Henry, his hand on the side of his throat, acting like he'd been shot.

As we found out seconds later, he had been. Just not by a bullet.

On the side of his neck, a splatter of mud crept across his throat, expanding like a balloon. The wounded officer tried to pry it off of him, but it stuck on tightly, and almost like a sentient object, it continued to spread.

"Henry?" Bob asked, confused and horrified at the same time. Before he could run to his friend's aid, he felt himself get struck in the back with such force he was brought to his knees.

Watching from above, a few of the kids nearby let out gasps of horror as they saw Bob get struck by projectile mud. In the woods, we could see the unmistakable silhouettes of the Mud Monsters as they emerged from hiding to pick off our supposed saviors.

While Henry collapsed onto the ground within moments, Bob was a bit more resilient. Struggling to his feet, he turned around and saw the Mud Monsters as they emerged from hiding. His eyes lit up in utter horror as he realized the truth of our words, but he was quick to take action. Whipping out his gun, Bob immediately fired several rounds at the advancing Mud Monsters. Some were struck in the head and soundlessly collapsed to the ground, not moving.

But alas, it was a futile effort. The Mud Monsters were emerging from all sides, and Bob couldn't take them all at once. Whenever his back was turned on one of them, they would fire a projectile of mud from their gaping jaws and strike him, with the mud continuing to expand across his outfit and skin. And each blast weakened him, brought him to his hands and feet.

"We have to help him!" Courtney said. She was about to race towards the door, but Kevin gripped her by the collar and yanked her back.

"What are you going to do?" He asked as he held onto the struggling Courtney. "Go down there and add to the number of people who've died tonight?"

Courtney gritted her teeth, but stopped struggling.

On the ground, Bob was on his knees, the Mud Monsters advancing from all sides. Mud covered his entire body except for his face, which stared up at the Mud Monsters as they surrounded him. There was an icy look in his eyes as he said nothing; just stared.

The Mud Monster in front of him stared back, and opened its jaw as it bent over towards him.

We couldn't bare to watch. All of us turned away as we heard the sickening _PLOP_ sound, followed by the sound of a body slumping over.

When we looked back, we saw Bob, lying motionless on the ground, his face covered in mud. One of the kids turned around and vomited on the floor in utter disgust.

Then, as we watched on, the Mud Monsters grabbed both officers and dragged their bodies back into the woods, vanishing into the darkness once more.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	14. Chapter 14

_Matt: Indeed. It seems the kids will have to handle things on their own._

 _I am burglar: Trust me, there's nothing to fear here._

* * *

The moment the Mud Monsters disappeared back into the woods, panic erupted in the room.

"We're doomed!" Sam screeched in a high-pitched voice. "We're all gonna die!"

"I want my mommy!" Devin sobbed.

"Everyone, calm down!" Molly demanded, but her words were drowned out by the hoarse cries of horror from everyone else in the room. It appeared that seeing the police officers overwhelmed by the Mud Monsters had extinguished whatever lingering hope we had possessed, and everyone had devolved into lunacy.

I myself was on the verge of cracking from the pressure when Courtney stomped into the center of the room and roared, "Everyone, _shut up_!"

For whatever reason, maybe out of some lingering admiration for the girl, everyone quieted down at hearing her voice. Immediately, everyone turned around to face Courtney, their eyes widened in shock.

Slowly, Devin stepped towards Courtney, a pleading look in his eyes. "What are we gonna do, Courtney?" He asked. "The Mud Monsters. . . they're out there, and. . ."

"I don't know," Courtney cut him off, a frustrated tone in her voice. "But stating the obvious isn't gonna fix anything. We all know they're out there, but the question is _why_?"

"What do you mean?" Charlene asked, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

Courtney turned to face Charlene, an inquiring look in her eyes. "Mud Monsters only come out once a year," She reminded everyone in the room. "And I _know_ , for a fact, that this isn't that time. There isn't even a full moon in the sky."

"What are you getting at?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

"The only reason those Mud Monsters would be up and about tonight is if _someone_ caused them to wake up prematurely," Courtney explained to the group. Her eyes narrowed bitterly. "So. . . which of you were in Muddy Creek?"

"What?" Molly asked, confused. "That's ridiculous. All of us made sure to avoid that dreadful place. I know I did." The rest of our classmates nodded in agreement.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kevin and his friends shuffle uncomfortably. They tried to retain an air of passiveness, but I could tell from the look on their faces that what Courtney had just said unnerved them.

It appeared Courtney noticed, too. Slowly, she turned to stare at them.

Kevin avoided her gaze. "What are you looking at?" He asked coolly, trying to mask his fear.

Her hands on her hips, Courtney stepped towards Kevin, her face hard as stone. One eyebrow was raised suspiciously, and her mouth was twisted into a grimace. "Do you have something to do with all this, Eddie's Brother?" She asked through gritted teeth.

As much as he tried, Kevin could not withstand that glare. "We might've. . . driven our truck through the creek. . . on the way here," He mumbled, stumbling over his words.

A gasp arose from the classmates. Molly's jaw dropped open. My eyes widened.

Courtney stared at my brother, her face unchanging. She closed her eyes, tooth a deep breath, and when she opened them back up, they were filled with barely-concealed rage.

"And why. . . did you do that?" She asked, obviously trying to keep calm.

"We accidentally drove off the rode and landed in the creek," Kevin explained, rubbing the back of his head. "I was so caught up in the moment, I just drove out and continued on our way. Barely even noticed."

"Kevin, we've been in Muddy Creek before," I reminded him. "We've seen those creatures before, and just barely escaped. You had to have known-"

"Hey, don't blame this on me," Kevin interrupted angrily. "The only reason we were out there was because _you_ stole _my_ costume!"

I took a step back, and instantly, my gaze went to Courtney, who had turned her back from Kevin, her hands clasped together, her eyes closed once more.

"So this is all your fault, then," She whispered, tilting her head slightly towards Kevin. "The reason we're stuck here. The reason Denise. . ."

The moment she spoke that name, something _snapped_ inside Courtney. Letting out a growl of pure rage and hatred, Courtney whirled around and lunged at Kevin, who was too shocked to even react. Before anyone would comprehend what was going on, Kevin was on the floor, Courtney pinning him down. Several of our classmates screamed in horror and flew backwards to avoid getting caught in the middle of the scuffle.

"You _bastard_!" Courtney roared, her fist colliding with my brother's face. "Denise is dead because of _you_!"

Kevin was a good several feet taller than Courtney, but even then, the sheer force of her rage left him utterly helpless before her. All he could do was weakly struggle against her as she brought her fists down on him repeatedly.

"Vic!" He shouted, whipping his head towards his friends. "Gregory!"

Immediately, the two rushed forward. Each of them grabbed Courtney by the arm and forcefully yanked her off of Kevin, using all of their strength to keep the struggling girl from breaking free.

As the two just barely restrained her, I rushed over and helped Kevin to his feet. The two of us stared at Courtney as she thrashed in Vic and Gregory's arms for several moments before eventually calming down.

Her teeth clenched, Courtney glared at Kevin with the most hateful look in her eyes. "I wish you were dead," She whispered.

Wrenching free from Kevin's friends, Courtney turned and headed towards the door. "Where are you going?" Molly asked.

"Away from here," Courtney snapped back.

"What?" I shouted in horror. "But the Mud Monsters! They're still out there!"

"Well I'd frankly prefer their company over yours!" Courtney replied, turning her head to glare at me as she continued towards the door.

Hat stepped in front of her. "Courtney, this is crazy," He said, blocking her path. "I know you're upset, but-"

"Get out of my way!" Courtney yelled. With a rough shove, she barreled into Hat, sending him crashing onto the floor with a thud.

"Hat!" Charlene shouted in horror, and she rushed to his side to tend to him. Courtney continued out the room and stormed down the stairs, leaving all of us in the room.

I didn't waste a moment. "I'm going after her," I declared, and prepared to rush after her, but Kevin grabbed me by the wrist, stopping me dead in my tracks.

"Whoa there Bugs, you're not going anywhere," He said. "If your classmate wants to die, fine, but I'm not letting you join her."

"This is my fault," I said, wrenching free from his grasp. "If Courtney dies tonight, then her blood is on my hands."

"Oh, don't get all sentimental on me," Kevin said, rolling his eyes. "Since when have you cared about that girl, anyways?"

"If anyone should feel bad, it's you!" Molly snapped, pointing a finger at my brother. "This is all your fault, anyways!"

"Now listen here, you!" Kevin snapped, turning his attention to Molly.

As my brother and my classmates began to bicker, I took the opportunity to exit the room, with everyone too busy pointing fingers to notice. Quickly, I descended the stairs and found the doors' barricade removed and the door wide open.

"Courtney!" I shouted, and quickly, I rushed outside the cabin and into the forest, desperate to find my former rival.

Even if it killed me.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	15. Chapter 15

_Matt: Let's just wait and see._

 _I am a Burglar: Uh-huh._

 _Godzilla183: Hmm..._

* * *

Following Eddie and Courtney's departure, the trapped residents within Butcher's Cabin had descended into bickering with one another. With no plan for how they'd survive the night, the only recourse was to find someone to point fingers at.

As everyone was busy fighting, Charlene left the room and walked down the hallway gloomily, reflecting on the past several hours. How she wished she'd have never taken Courtney up on her offer of joining her slumber party. But no, she had to give in to the whims of her and her friends' most hated classmate, and look how that had turned out. It would be a miracle if they lasted the night.

Entering an abandoned room, Courtney walked up towards one of the broken windows. She peered outside, trying in vain to locate Eddie out in the woods, to no avail. She still couldn't believe that he was risking his life for a girl who, as far as they knew, had given up on her own. Much less a girl like Courtney, whom Eddie didn't even _like._

 _Didn't he?_

Charlene had to pause to consider the question, but was snapped out of her thoughts when a voice behind her whispered, "There you are."

Whipping around, Charlene relaxed when she saw it was only Hat. He walked, hesitantly, into the room, his hand on his head, or more specifically, his hat.

"What are you doing in here?" Charlene asked.

"Looking for the only person who still has half a brain left in their head, I guess," Hat replied. "It seems everyone else's left, along with their courage and rationality. All that's left is a bunch of raving morons."

Charlene smiled a bit, then frowned and glanced out the window. "They're not the only ones," she muttered. "There are two others outside, the only difference being they've flat-out lost their will to live."

Hat returned the frown. "It's not that," he reassured Charlene. "Eddie. . . he just doesn't want to lose any more lives, I guess."

"By getting himself killed?" Charlene asked. "Courtney made her choice. If she wants to go out there and die, that's her problem. But why should Eddie have to follow suite? We've already lost one too many people."

"That's probably what he's thinking," Hat replied. "Just because we don't like Courtney, doesn't mean she deserves to die. She's been through enough as it is. . ."

"Sounds funny coming from you, since you and Eddie were the ones trying to ruin her Halloween Party," Charlene sniped, putting her hands on her hips.

Hat's eyes widened. "Where'd you get that idea?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Oh, come on," Charlene said, rolling her eyes. "Why else would you guys steal Kevin's Mud Monster costumes? You were trying to scare you, weren't you."

Hat paused a bit, then raised a finger and said, "Hey, we didn't predict any of. . . _this_ would happen, alright? It was just going to a simple prank. Heck, we wouldn't have even done it if you guys hadn't. . . well. . ."

"Ditched you?" Charlene finished, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sorry about that."

"You're not the only one," Hat whispered sadly. He walked over to the closet and leaned against it, letting out a deep sigh.

And then, before either could react, the closet door opened up.

Charlene let out an ear-piercing scream at what fell out.

* * *

I didn't know why I was doing this.

Pursuing Courtney after she'd disbanded from the others had seemed like a noble choice at first, but now that I was actually out there on my own, in a forest filled with hidden dangers, my inner coward had started to emerge. A large part of me was whispering in my ear to head back to the cabin while there was still time, and leave Courtney to her fate.

After all, it wasn't like I cared about her or anything.

But alas, I couldn't do it. I just kept on going, walking deeper into a forest I wasn't familiar with, willingly allowing myself to get more and more lost. There was a chance I'd find Courtney in these strange, creepy woods, but at the same time, there was a far higher chance I'd come face-to-face with a Mud Monster.

Which is exactly what happened.

Without warning, the massive silhouette of a Mud Monster lumbered out from behind the trees and into my path. I froze in place, my blood running cold as my worst fear transpired right in front of me.

A Mud Monster was standing right before me. And there was no one around to help.

The Mud Monster opened its jaws and let out what sounded like a loud belch as it lurched forward, its arms outstretched towards me. I instinctively backed away, but tripped on my own feet and collapsed on my rump.

 _Gee, what a great time to turn into a klutz,_ I muttered to myself as I scramble backwards, trying in vain to put some distance between myself and the monstrosity standing before me.

The Mud Monster growled as it reared down, its massive hands reaching down towards me. I cringed as I felt its mud-soaked hands grip by shirt, the slime oozing onto my skin. Its jaws hung open as it came closer, as if to consume me entirely.

 _BANG!_

The sound of a gunshot rang in my head, and the next thing I knew, the Mud Monster collapsed in a heap on its side.

For a few moments, I stared breathlessly at its motionless body, wondering what had just happened. There was heavy breathing, and I soon realized it wasn't coming from me. Craning my head to the right, I saw Courtney, a gun in her hand and aimed at the lifeless Mud Monster.

"C-Courtney," I whispered, my heart beating rapidly.

"And I thought I was the only one dumb enough to venture out of the cabin," Courtney muttered to herself as she lowered the gun. It struck me as odd to see Courtney insult herself so callously, but at the moment, I paid it no mind.

"What are you doing out here, Eddie?" Courtney asked in an annoyed tone.

"Trying to save you," I said, wincing a bit in embarrassment.

"Well looks like you've been doing a fine job of that," Courtney replied sarcastically, sitting down.

"Where'd you get the gun?" I asked.

"Off one of those dead cops," Courtney said casually. "Don't know how many bullets are left, though, so I'm using it wisely. You on the other hand shouldn't even be here."

"Neither should you," I said.

Courtney glared. "Did you follow me out here just to make sure my last moments were Hell?" She sneered.

"No, I did it to make sure these _aren't_ your last moments," I said firmly. "Come back to the cabin."

"And go back to being trapped like rats?" Courtney asked. "No way. At least out here I have some autonomy. If you enjoy being helpless, why don't you go back to the cabin yourself."

"I'm not going back without you, Courtney," I stated, standing up.

"Well then you're not going back at all," Courtney said, and with that, she turned and walked off, stopping to ask, "You coming or not?"

I had nothing else to say, so I silently complied and followed Courtney as we headed off deeper into the woods, the question of whether this would be our last night alive still weighing heavily on our heads.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	16. Chapter 16

_Matt: Let's see._

 _I am a burglar: Humph._

* * *

"Hat!" Charlene cried out as her friend collapsed onto the floor, the _thing_ in the closet pinning him to the ground. Hat let out a cry of pain from the weight of the thing on top of him.

The sound of rushing footsteps filled the hallways outside, and within moments, the other residents of the cabin arrived. "What is it?!" Kevin asked, sounding more concerned than usual. "We heard you two screaming! Did a Mud Monster get inside?"

When the others saw what was on top of Hat, however, they calmed down. It wasn't a Mud Monster pinning him down; it was a skeleton.

"Get this off of me," Hat groaned, his fingers tightening around the skeleton's arms.

Quickly, Kevin and Gregory leaned in and pulled the skeleton off of Hat, allowing him to squirm out from under it. "What's a skeleton doing in a closet?" Molly asked, scratching her head.

"Have you forgotten whose _house_ this belonged to?" Kevin sneered as he set the skeleton down onto the floor.

Molly put her hands on her hips. "Considering the current situation, you can forgive me for it slipping my mind," she said, narrowing her eyes. She curtly brushed past Kevin and leaned outside the window.

"You think Eddie and Courtney are alright?" she asked Charlene as she stared out into the dark forest.

Before Charlene could answer, Vic said, "Not to sound crass, but those two are likely zombie chow by now."

His comment earned him a rough punch in the shoulder by Kevin. "If you want to keep from being zombie chow yourself, you'll keep your mouth shut," he warned.

"We'll _all_ be zombie chow if we don't do something, and fast," Molly pointed out. "Come on, guys, there has to be something we can do."

"What can we do?" Devin asked. "We don't have any weapons."

"Really?" Hat asked, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms. "We're standing in the cabin of a _serial killer_ , and we have no weapons?"

Silence flooded the room as its occupants pondered Hat's words. Eventually, Molly broke the silence.

"All of you!" she cried, gesturing to the others. "Search every inch of this cabin! Find anything that can be used as a weapon! We're gonna fight our way to freedom!"

With that, everyone scattered around the cabin in preparation for battle.

* * *

"Courtney?"

"What is it?"

I bristled at the utter lack of emotion in Courtney's voice. The two of us had been trudging through the damp woods for quite some time, neither of us speaking a word to each other. Courtney was in front, so I couldn't see her expression, and aside from her verbal reply, she gave no indication of a response.

"Are you. . . mad at me?" I asked, tensing my shoulders up.

Courtney made a slight groaning noise in the pit of her throat. "A little," she replied, sounding like she was speaking through gritted teeth. "But mainly at your knucklehead of a brother."

I didn't know why I was relieved to hear that. "Oh, thanks," I said without thinking.

Before I knew it, Courtney had spun around and was facing me, her expression making me stop dead in my tracks. "Tell me, Eddie," she said as her fingers tightened around the cop's revolver.

I gulped, my blood running cold. "Tell you what?" I asked, twiddling my fingers.

"Why are you so obsessed with me?" she asked, narrowing her eyes inquisitively.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What are you talking about?" I asked defensively.

"You've always liked trying to scare me to death," Courtney pointed out. "No matter how many times I outwitted you, you could never just accept that you couldn't scare me."

"Well that evidently wasn't true," I replied, folding my arms. "Considering the past few hours."

Courtney scowled. "Explain, carrot top!" she demanded, causing me to straighten up, taken aback. It wasn't uncommon for people to make fun of my appearance, particularly my red hair, but never from Courtney.

After getting over my initial surprise, I finally responded. "I guess because I was jealous of you," I admitted through gritted teeth. "You can be such a show off, and you're always making me and my friends look bad! And you've been even worse this past year!"

"It's not like it was without reason," Courtney stated.

"Yeah, but it's so annoying!" I said, my voice resembling a growl. "Do you have any idea how irritating you can be when you act all fearless?"

I thought I saw a flash of emotion cross Courtney's face. She briskly turned away from me, folding her arms across her chest, and muttered something under her breath.

My eyes widened in shock. "What did you say?" I asked, wondering if I'd simply misheard it.

For a few moments, Courtney remained silent, apparently considering whether or not to tell me. Then, hanging her head low, she repeated, a little louder, "I thought you liked me."

" _Liked you_?" I sputtered, my eyes as wide as saucers. "You? No, I don't - but I - well, uh. . ."

Courtney rolled her eyes and turned her head to stare at something in the distance. Then, her eyes widened and she rushed in that direction without saying another word to me. My head still spinning, I followed after her.

Courtney crouched down behind a bush. "Look," she whispered, pointing at something in the distance. Crouching down beside her, I squinted my eyes at where she was pointing at.

Then, I let out a gasp. "Oh no," I whispered, my pupils shrinking.

There, in the distance, we could see the Mud Monsters trudging down the pathway, heading directly towards our neighborhood.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	17. Chapter 17

_New chapter up._

* * *

My blood ran cold as I saw the long line of Mud Monsters, lumbering straight towards the neighborhood. There were dozens of them, all of them tall and large, unflinching in their stride.

"They're going to attack the neighborhood," I whispered to Courtney.

Her eyes wide with fright, Courtney replied, "Thanks for the report, Captain Obvious."

I gritted my teeth. "At least that explains why we haven't spotted much of them since we left the cabin," I replied, trying to search for some optimism in our dour situation. "It also means the kids at the cabin are safe, for the time being."

"We have to warn everybody!" Courtney said, her voice leaning on a shout. Grabbing me by the arm, she said, "Come on!"

"We can't go there," I replied, wrenching my arm out of Courtney's grip. "By the time we get to the neighborhood, those Mud Monsters will already be upon it. We have to return to the cabin!"

"And how will that help?" Courtney replied, exasperated. "Those morons are probably killing each other already in their panic! We need to focus on the neighborhood!"

I glared at Courtney, who simply returned the look. For a few moments, neither of us spoke a word.

Finally, I broke. "Alright, how about a compromise?" I said, not wanting to waste anymore time. "You go to the neighborhood and do whatever, I'll go back to the cabin and get the others? Deal?"

Courtney's lips twisted upwards, but I wasn't sure I could call it a smile. "Deal," She said, taking my hand in her own. "Come to my tree house once you've gotten the others."

"You've got it," I said with a grin, and with that, the two of us parted ways.

* * *

As it turned out, Hat's intuition had been correct. Butcher's Cabin had been stocked full with blades, firearms, and other weapons the long-deceased murderer had utilized during his time. Scarcely anyone had ever had the inclination to search his cabin in the past, so these weapons had remained in the dark for years.

Until now.

"This is so cool!" Vic said to Gregory as they traded shotguns in the cabins' basement. "We're gonna go out there and start blasting dead people! It'll be just like in our video-games, but in real life!"

"Don't get all excited," Hat warned the two of them. "Those Mud Monsters are still dangerous, so just be careful. We don't want anyone else buried in the ground tonight except for those Mud Monsters."

"Yes, sir," The two teenagers said, though Hat wondered if they were being sarcastic.

Nearby, Charlene was rummaging through the basement before she came across a small door. Out of curiosity, she creaked the door open, and almost immediately let out a scream.

"Charlene?!" Hat shouted, turning and rushing towards her, taking her in his arms. "What is it?"

Shaking, Charlene pointed a wobbly finger at the door. Concerned, Molly came over and pushed the door open fully, and took a step back in shock.

In the room, several decaying bodies hung from the ceiling, suspended by ropes wrapped around their necks. They looked to be several decades old, and flies and other insects were crawling all over them.

Kevin peaked inside. "Gross," He said, disgusted, and turned to the others. "Let's get out of this cabin. The sooner we make it back to the neighborhood, the better."

"I'll get the others," Molly said, and turned to leave the basement.

As soon as she was gone, Charlene took Hat's hand. "I never want to go back to this dreadful cabin," She whispered into his ear.

"Feeling's mutual," Hat replied, squeezing her hand tightly. The two rested their heads against one another for comfort.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Let's just get out of here," He said, and ushered everyone out of the basement and upstairs. There, Molly and the rest of the kids had already gathered.

"Alright everybody, let's get prepared to move out!" Molly said to the rest of the party goers. "We are leaving this cabin, Mud Monsters or not! If anyone has any objections, voice them now!"

A few kids raised their hands. "Well-"

"Great!" Molly said. "Now let's go!"

With that, Kevin burst through the barricaded door, and he and the rest of the kids charged outside into the forest, ready to make it back to the neighborhood.

Or die trying.

* * *

It hadn't taken Courtney long to make it back to her house. Luckily, she always had a spare key on her, so she'd immediately gotten inside. Afterwards, she's practically flown past her parents, ignoring their comments, and raced up the stairs to the nearest phone. Once there, she had dialed 9-1-1 as soon as possible.

"Hello, police?" She asked once she'd gotten the line, shaking in anxiety.

It took a few moments for the person on the other end to respond. "Yes, ma'am?" The caller replied.

"There's a major situation at the neighborhood!" Courtney said, her voice bordering on a shout. "I need you to send as many cops here as you can! Lives are at stake!"

"Whoa, calm down, ma'am," The caller responded. "Now, where are you? What's the situation?"

"I'm, uh. . ." Courtney stammered, realizing that, in her panic, she'd forgotten the name of her neighborhood. And she wasn't sure if the cops would believe her claims that Mud Monsters were invading.

"Ma'am, are you still there?"

"Yes!" Courtney shouted frantically. "The neighborhood is under attack! You cannot waste any time!"

"Alright, ma'am, hold up," The caller said. "I've got another call."

"No!" Courtney shouted. "This is important!"

"I understand, ma'am, but. . ." The caller paused for a moment before replying. "We're getting a lot of calls all of a sudden, and they all seem to be coming from your neighborhood."

Courtney froze for a moment before responding. "What?" She asked, horror creeping up her throat.

Slowly, Courtney peered out the window of her house and looked outside, and what she saw made her blood run cold.

Outside, the Mud Monsters were on the streets, converging upon the neighborhood.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	18. Chapter 18

_Godzilla183: Indeed._

* * *

She was too late.

That was the only thought running through Courtney's mind as she saw the Mud Monsters trudging outside her house. They were on the streets, the sidewalks, the lawns, all of them tearing through everything in sight. Garbage cans were tipped over, windows were shattered, and anyone unlucky enough to be outside was forced to flee or be captured.

"Young lady?" The caller on the other side of the phone Courtney was holding said. "Ma'am, are you still there?"

His words were faint echoes in Courtney's mind. She barely even heard him, barely even noticed as the phone slipped from her fingers and clattered onto the floor. All her attention was on the streets, and the Mud Monsters that were wrecking havoc on it.

It was like her worst nightmare come true.

She was momentarily snapped out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps behind her. She whirled around in a panic, only to see it was her parents. "Courtney, what is the matter?" Her mother asked, totally oblivious to what was going on just outside of their house. "I thought you were having a slumber party? Why are you back so early?"

"M-M-Mud. . ." Courtney stammered, finding to her horror that she had lost the will to speak.

"What?" Her father asked, confused. "Courtney, you never stutter. What's going on?"

Courtney merely turned and pointed towards the window. Concerned, her parents passed by her and peered outside to see what she was staring at.

No sooner had they looked out the window Courtney heard a scream of agony coming from her father. Her eyes widened as she saw him step backwards as though he had been shot, and she saw a clamp of mud stuck to his face.

"Dad!" She shrieked as he collapsed onto his back. She knelt down by his side, along with her mother.

"We have to call the police," Her mother said.

"I already did," Courtney replied. "It's hopeless; they won't be able to do anything in time."

"Well then we have to get out of here," Her father suggested, tearing the clamp of mud off of his face.

Courtney got up and walked over to the window. Outside, the streets were in utter chaos; the Mud Monsters stamping down the roads in pursuit of any humans in sight. At this rate, they'd never be able to make it to their car and out of the neighborhood in time.

"I doubt that's an option, either," Courtney told her parents glumly. "We'll just have to stay inside until help arrives."

"You mean the police?" Her mother asked.

"No," Was all Courtney said in response. Given what had happened the last time the police had shown up when called, they wouldn't be of much use.

Instead, the one person she was relying on was the kid that had been her mortal enemy less than 24 hours ago.

* * *

I hoped Courtney would be reliable.

As I trudged through the woods towards the cabin, I considered what she had said to me before we parted ways. It was true; the kids at the cabin would probably not be much use, but at the same time, neither was enter a neighborhood under siege. One part of me was optimistic, hoping that Courtney would have a plan figured out by the time I rounded up the others and got to her tree house.

If she was still alive by then.

The sound of loud footsteps in the woods stopped me in my tracks. Quickly, I dashed behind a bush, worried. Were there still Mud Monsters in the forest?

Before I could decide what course of action to take, I heard a voice whisper, "Did the rest of you guys hear something?"

". . . Charlene?" I whispered, recognizing the female voice.

"I think it's a Mud Monster," Another voice, whom I recognized to be my brother's, replied. "Get ready to shoot."

Quickly, I sprang out from my hiding spot. Just as I suspected, the cabin residents were standing before me, with my friends and my brother at the front. They jumped a bit when I revealed myself, but calmed down when they saw it was me.

"Eddie," Hat said, relieved. "You're still alive! I thought for sure you were-"

"Hey, it's not gonna be me tonight, alright," I reassured him. "You know, if things work out according to plan."

Kevin strode up. "Where's the bimbo?" He asked, ignoring as my eyes narrowed at the name he had called Courtney. "Did she get herself eaten? 'Cause I'm not gonna lie, that'd be the only positive thing that's happened tonight so far."

"No," I said through gritted teeth. "At least, I hope not."

"Um, where are the Mud Monsters?" Molly asked, pushing past the rest of the group. "We expected to run into quite a few of them when we left, but it's like just vanished."

"Maybe they went back to Muddy Creek to continue resting," Vic suggested.

"Aw, great!" Gregory replied. "That means we can just go home and pretend this never happened!"

I groaned and slid a hand over my face. It occurred to me that these guys had _no idea_ what was at stake here.

"The Mud Monsters aren't in the forest," I informed them, then took a deep breath as I prepared to crush whatever fleeting hope they had left. "They're currently in the neighborhood."

A cold, haunting silence fell through the group. They all stared at me, as if I had just spoken an alien language.

". . . Could you repeat that?" Molly asked me, even though I knew she, and everyone else, had heard me clearly.

"You heard what I said," I told them. "The neighborhood is under attack by Mud Monsters."

"What?!" Hat shouted in disbelief. "They can't do that! All my stuff is there!"

"Well then we'd better get a move on!" I told them. "I promised we'd meet Courtney back at her tree house, so we can't keep her waiting." I turned to leave, expecting the rest of the group to follow suite.

"Wait, wait, wait," Kevin said, causing me to stop. "What are we going to _her_ place for?"

"You think we're going to rely on that phony?" Devin asked, folding his arms. "After she ditched us back at the cabin?"

"Look, you guys. . ."

"I saw we just go in there in blast those Mud Monsters to bits!" Kevin shouted. "Why else did we bring all these weapons?"

It was only then that I noticed that nearly everyone was holding guns, knives, and other deadly weapons. As bad as the situation was, I was actually a little impressed; it appeared they weren't as helpless as Courtney thought.

Regardless, I couldn't let her down. "Come on, you guys," I told them. "I know Courtney's been a jerk, but she wants this neighborhood safe just as much as any of us. We're going to have to work together, so all of you, follow me!" With that, I turned and set off down towards the neighborhood.

After a few moments, the others followed suite.

"This better be worth it," Kevin grumbled.

* * *

At Courtney's house, she and her parents had barricaded all entrances to the house. Fortunately for them, the Mud Monsters weren't quite as intent on breaking into her house as they had the cabin; now they had an entire neighborhood to terrorize, so why focus their efforts on just one house.

Even still, Courtney and her parents were doing their best to remain hidden. All the lights were shut off, and she and her parents remained in their room, huddled close together.

"Don't worry, sweetie," Her mother was cooing to her softly, her arms wrapped around her. "The police will be here soon, and they'll take care of this."

Courtney rolled her eyes. Not only did she not believe for a second that the cops would be able to fix anything, but for as worried as she was, it wasn't even a fraction as much as her parents. Her mother, even as she tried to comfort her, was shaking uncontrollably, and her father was constantly wiping sweat from his forehead.

She was still thinking about Eddie. She wondered if he'd gotten back to the cabin safely; she hoped he hadn't run into any Mud Monsters on the way there.

She shook her head in confusion. Why was she so concerned for the boy who'd been her biggest enemy not too long ago?

Suddenly, she heard the sound of something hitting the window in her room. She ignored it at first, but when it happened again, she got up. "I need to use the bathroom," She excused, and then exited the room and quickly rushed into her bedroom.

She slowly approached the window, half-expecting to get shot in the face by a clump of mud the second she peered outside. However, when she did, she was relieved to see it was me, hurling rocks at the window. The rest of the group were at my side, standing in the backyard.

"Eddie, you're here!" She half-shouted, half-whispered, looking the happiest she'd been all night.

I was about to tell her to come down, but before I could say anything, Courtney catapulted herself out the window, onto the roof, and landed herself onto the grass in front of me. "Come on!" She said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me up to her tree house. Hat, Molly and Charlene followed closely.

As soon as we were in the tree house, I said, "What's the status?"

"Not good," Courtney said, biting her finger. "The Mud Monsters are wrecking havoc in the neighborhood."

"As I suspected," I mumbled. "Well, we have to do something."

"We didn't bring those guns for nothing," Hat pointed out. "Let's just go and take those Mud Monsters out!"

"Yeah!" Molly agreed. "Let's do it!"

"No, it's too risky," Courtney snapped, hitting Molly in the shoulder. "There are too many people out there that could get caught in the crossfire."

We thought for a moment. "Maybe we could lure the Mud Monsters somewhere where there are less people," I suggested. "And then we could form a plan to take them out there."

The others silently considered my plan. Then, Hat's face lit up. "Hey guys, I think I know just the place," He said with a sly grin.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	19. Chapter 19

_Godzilla183: Let's see._

 _I am a burglar: Eh..._

* * *

Police sirens blared across the neighborhood as police cars zoomed down the streets. After reports of the sudden and unexpected invasion had come through, the local Police Department had dispatched as many available members as they could to investigate. As they arrived, the few citizens who still remained outside poured over towards them, desperate and hopeful that help had finally arrived. In their haste, they were nearly run over by the police cars as they came to a stop.

In the center of the streets, the horde of Mud Monsters stopped their onslaught and turned their attention to the bright lights flashing from the cars. The police cars formed a barrier on the streets and the police exited, ready to engage.

"Holy!" One of the police men exclaimed when they got a good look at the monsters before them. "What are those things?!"

For several moments, the officers remained petrified, gaping in shock. An unearthly howl escaped the throat of one of the Mud Monsters, and immediately, they trudged towards the police.

One police man finally snapped out of his trance. "All of you, get indoors, now!" He ordered the people outside. They didn't need to be told twice. Quickly, they scrambled towards the nearest houses, desperate to avoid the battle that was to come.

As the police turned his attention back to the Mud Monsters, he was struck in the face by a glob of projectile mud. With a choked scream, he was propelled backwards and landed hard on the concrete ground. Seeing this, the police quickly began firing their guns at the monsters. Several Mud Monsters were struck and felled, but still more persisted forward.

As they advanced, the Mud Monsters returned fire by projecting more globs of mud out of their throats. The globs struck against the police, striking them in their faces and chests, hitting them with the force of stone. The blows were enough to drop the officers to the ground, their guns clattering onto the ground.

"We're being overrun!" One policeman shouted to his comrade as the two were forced to seek cover behind the cars to avoid the mud projectiles. "We need backup!"

". . . But Jerry, we _were_ the backup," His comrade reminded, a gulp caught in his throat.

Suddenly, a large shadow loomed over the pair. The two looked up, and their pupils shrunk as they found themselves gazing up into the empty eye sockets of one of the Mud Monsters. It was standing atop the police car and staring down at them.

Before either of them could let out a scream, the Mud Monster fell upon them, enveloping them in his body. More Mud Monsters swarmed the car and began to pile over the police officers, their human bodies sinking into muddy flesh.

"Fall back!" One of the remaining officers cried. As the Mud Monsters overwhelmed their position, the police quickly fled in the opposite direction, avoiding mud globs as they ran.

As one of the officers turned a corner, he bunked into a figure covered in mud. Stumbling back, he found himself staring at one of the Mud Monsters, though this one was peculiarly lean. The officer didn't seem to notice though, as he let out a high-pitched scream and turned tail in the opposite direction regardless.

The Mud Monster simply watched the officer as he ran, not moving. Behind him, Eddie and Hat emerged from hiding.

"Okay, so you remember the plan, Kevin?" Eddie asked his brother, who was currently wearing one of the Mud Monster costumes. Vic and Gregory emerged from hiding, wearing the other Mud Monster costumes as well.

Kevin turned towards me, his face covered in the Mud Monster mask. "I have a _really_ bad feeling about this, Bugs," He said, grumbling.

"Don't worry," I reassured him. "We just need you guys to lead the Monsters to the spot."

"How do we know they're even going to buy it?" Kevin asked, folding his arms.

"The policeman sure did," Hat noted, smirking.

Kevin let out a sigh, but nevertheless, he gestured for Vic and Gregory to follow him. The two passed us and walked out from behind the corner, in full view of the Mud Monster horde, who were continuing after the fleeing cops. The horde quickly stopped in their tracks, staring at the teenage trio.

For a few moments, the three remained silent, standing like a deer in headlights. Kevin nervously turned to face me, and I made some hand gestures for him to proceed with the plan.

Taking a deep breath, Kevin turned to face the horde, and let out a deep growl, trying to mimic a Mud Monster. He gestured towards the Mud Monsters, and he and his friends turned down the streets and began walking.

After a few moments of silence, the horde followed them.

I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. It had worked! The Mud Monsters thought Kevin and his friends were one of them.

And now that they had fulfilled their role in the plan, it was time for our classmates to fulfill theirs.

* * *

Outside the local school, the party-goers were just finished building the last of their defenses for their upcoming battle against the Mud Monsters. Garbage cans, bikes, and other items were used as makeshift barricades. Hopefully, they would be able to keep the Mud Monsters at bay for a while.

Though not forever.

"How much time do we have time?" Charlene asked Molly as she stretched, wanting to be as physically fit as possible for what was to come.

"It shouldn't be long, now," Molly said. "If my timing is right, Eddie and Hat should be coming soon. Which also means we should be prepared for when the Mud Monsters arrive."

Turning towards the other kids, she said, "Are you guys ready?"

Sam aimed his gun at one of the trees and mock-fired it. "I'm ready!" He declared. The other kids shouted their agreements.

"Good!" Molly said.

Just then, me and Hat came running down the streets. "Guys, we made it!" I shouted as we came to a stop, attempting to catch our breaths.

"You're here!" Charlene shouted gleefully, enveloping Hat in a huge hug. I rolled my eyes and turned to Molly. "Is everything set up? Kevin and his friends won't be far behind."

"Hopefully," Molly said, shrugging her shoulders. "You know, if You-Know-Who pulls off her part of the plan."

"Speaking of which. . . where is Courtney?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

"I'm here," I voice called out from a short distance away. Turning, I saw Courtney standing by the entrance to the school. Waving Molly off, I rushed forward towards Courtney, meeting her at the gates.

"You ready for this, Courtney?" I asked her.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Courtney said, scratching the back of her head. I shivered; I wasn't used to Courtney sounding so unsure of herself.

"Hey," I said, casting my eyes downwards.

"What?" Courtney asked, leaning against the door.

"I'm sorry."

Courtney remained frozen for a few moments, the only movement being her eyes, which widened slightly. Eventually, she simply nodded her head.

Suddenly, Devin called out, "They're here!"

Whipping our heads around, we saw Kevin and his friends, dashing down the playground towards us in a hurry. And trudging behind them was the slow, lumbering horde of the Mud Monsters. Immediately, all of the kids got in position as they prepared to fight.

I took a deep breath as I saw the horde come our way. "Well, this is it, Courtney," I said, gathering up all of my courage. "Scared yet?"

"You have no idea," Courtney replied, agreeably.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	20. Chapter 20

_I am a burglar: Ugh..._

 _Godzilla183: Be careful what you wish for, indeed._

* * *

As soon as Devin had announced the arrival of the Mud Monster horde, the children quickly took their places. Several rushed to take cover behind the barricades, while others rushed out into the open to meet the monsters head on. The Mud Monsters simply trudged on forward fearlessly; a gang a measly preteens hardly registered as a threat.

We intended to prove them wrong.

As soon as everyone was in place, I shouted, "Do it! Now!"

Quickly, the kids fired at the advancing Mud Monsters from the safety of their barricades. Their aiming wasn't exactly proficient, but due to the slow moving and large size of their targets, most of them didn't miss. The Mud Monsters quickly began to topple as they were struck in the heads, abdomens, and legs.

Courtney was at the front, on her knees as she fired vigorously at the monsters, her hair wild and her face red and filled with determined rage. If she was truly screaming in terror on the inside, she certainly didn't show it. She was amazing.

"Eddie!" Kevin's voice distracted me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I diverted my view from my former nemesis and charged to join my brother behind the garbage can, avoiding the projectiles being fired from both sides of the field.

"Get your head out of the clouds, bro, we have a job to do!" Kevin told me once I was at his side.

He handed me one of the extra firearms. "Remember all those zombie games we used to play?" He asked. When I nodded, he said, "Just imagine we're in the game. Except we don't get to re-spawn if we die."

I was sure he was trying to reassure me, but it definitely didn't work. He seemed to notice, judging by my change in expression, as he quickly added, "Just aim for the head, Bugs."

I nodded, putting on the bravest face I could muster. Then, I sprung up from the top of the garbage can, took aim at the nearest Mud Monster, and fired. The kickback nearly blew me off my feet, but I steeled myself to remain put. The bullet had only grazed the monster's shoulder, but it was a start.

By now, the Mud Monsters were starting to strike back. Globs of mud were fired from their jaws, soaring towards our barricades. Almost immediately, our shields started to crumble; the mud globs blasted the stacks of bikes and other barricades into pieces with their force. Some of the children were even blown back by the force of the blows.

I heard Charlene let out a scream as the garbage can she was hiding behind was blasted apart. With her shield gone, she and the other kids quickly scrambled to find alternative means of cover, trying to avoid the rain of mud globs coming in their direction.

"Ah!" Devin cried out as he was struck in the leg by one of the globs. He crashed onto the ground, clutching his wounded leg. Charlene rushed to his side and attempted to pull him to his feet. As she did, the Mud Monster lumbered towards them, his arms outstretched to grab hold of them.

Seeing this, Courtney turned her fire against the Mud Monster targeting them, firing rapidly into his bodies, bringing him to the ground. She let loose a howl of rage as she rushed pressed forward, ripping into the Mud Monsters with a fury I didn't know was in her.

"This is for Denise!" She shouted, slamming into one of the Mud Monsters so hard it toppled over. Stepping over it, she immediately fired right into its face, blasting it apart.

Courtney was so distracted she didn't notice another Mud Monster, creeping up behind her. "Behind you!" I called out to her from behind the garbage can, and Courtney whirled around. I could see her eyes widening as she saw the Mud Monster loom over her, its jaws outstretched as if to devour her.

Suddenly, Hat sprang onto the Mud Monster's back, a large butcher knife in his fist. With a single motion, he had lodged the blade deep into the Mud Monster's throat. The monster let out a gurgled howl and threw its head back, but Hat continued to hold onto it, forcing the blade deeper into its throat. With a final howl, the Mud Monster collapsed onto its back, Hat narrowly avoiding being crushed.

Courtney rushed to Hat's side. "Thank you, Hat," She said, pulling him to his knees. Hat let out a weak smile in response.

Suddenly, Hat let out a piercing shout. Courtney's face distorted into horror as Hat lurched forward, nearly crushing her. On his back was a glob of mud, fired from the jaws of an approaching Mud Monster.

"Hat!" Charlene half-whispered, half-yelled in horror. Grabbing a knife off the ground, she rushed forward and hurled it into the Mud Monster's eye socket, causing it to recoil in pain. She then joined Courtney and hoisted the wounded Hat to his feet.

"We're outnumbered!" Molly shouted out from behind the cover of one of the garbage cans. "We have to retreat!"

"Right!" I said. Turning to the others, I shouted out, "Everyone, in the school, now!" As soon as the words left my mouth, I ducked under the fire of a glob of mud before rushing to help Hat inside the school, the rest of the children, along with Kevin and his friends, already heading inside.

By now, the fields were overrun with Mud Monsters. They barreled past our defenses and lumbered towards the entrance of the school after us.

Little did they know, they had just fallen squarely into our trap.

* * *

All the lights in the school were off. It was both a benefit and a drawback; the Mud Monsters wouldn't be able to see where we were going, but neither could we. All we could hope to do was stay in a group, and hope nobody got left behind.

Once we had reached the desired spot, we stopped to tend to those injured.

"Hat, are you alright?" Charlene asked as she cradled Hat in her arms.

"I. . . I'll live," He replied, groaning as he spoke. The glob of mud has hit him square in the spine; there was no doubt he would need to go to the hospital when he got out of here.

 _If_ we got out of here.

I turned to Courtney. "So, Courtney, did you do it?" I asked her, just for confirmation and reassurance. "Did you. . ."

"Yes," Courtney replied flatly. "This whole building is lined with gasoline."

It had been risky, but there weren't many options. While the Mud Monsters had been occupied terrorizing the neighborhood, we had stolen some tanks of gasoline and brought them to the school. While the rest of the group had prepared for the battle, Courtney had been tasked with dumping as much gasoline around the school as she could. After that, all that was left was luring the Mud Monsters inside.

We were going to burn the school down, and the Mud Monsters with it.

I'd hoped the Mud Monsters would gather in one location so it'd be easier to take them all out at once. That task had, once again, been given to Kevin and his friends. Hopefully their costumes would continue to fool the horde, especially in the darkness of the school.

Currently, we were holed up at the fire escape. We were just waiting for Kevin and his friends to come back.

"Hey Eddie," Courtney whispered, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.

"Yes?" I asked.

"You apologized not too long ago," She said, and I noticed a slight blush form on her cheeks.

"I did," I replied, raising an eyebrow. I hoped she wasn't planning to grill me on it.

"I just ant to say. . . I'm sorry, too."

My eyes widened. It seemed everyone else shared my surprise, as they all turned around to stare at the two of us.

"It's true," Courtney said, smiling softly. "I shouldn't have lied to everyone, tried to make myself seem like such a hero. I was really a coward. I shouldn't have pushed you and your friends so much. . ."

"Courtney," I cut her off, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Honest."

Courtney's smile vanished for a few moments. I smiled in return, and slowly, her face brightened up in response.

"Well ain't that cute."

We both whipped are head around to find three Mud Monsters looming over us. The other kids screamed in terror and scrambled backwards, but the monsters removed their masks, revealing Kevin and their friends.

"Kevin," I said, relieved.

"We don't have much time, Bugs," Kevin told us. "We've managed to lure the horde into the large gym. We're just gonna need the match."

"I got it," Molly said, pulling it out. Handing it to the three, she grinned and said, "Light those suckers on fire!"

"Alright," Vic said, snatching it out of her hands. "All of you dweebs, head out of the fire escape. We'll handle this!"

I rolled my eyes, but nevertheless ushered the rest of the kids towards the exit. "Come on, we can't waste any time. Those Mud Monsters won't stay in one place for long!"

The others didn't need to be told twice. Quickly, they rushed out towards the fire escape, carrying the injured kids with them. I followed closely behind, sparing only a second to turn back as Kevin and his friends headed back to deal with the Mud Monsters.

As I turned to leave, I couldn't shake the feeling that this night wouldn't end so easily.

* * *

As we left, Kevin and his friends rushed down the hallways. As they did, they had ditched the Mud Monster costumes; they had been a challenge to run in, and had only slowed them down. They didn't think they would need them anymore, anyways.

"So, when this is all over, you think we're gonna make a sequel to our home movie?" Gregory asked Kevin as they ran.

"Hopefully," Kevin mused. "Who knows; a studio might even buy it."

The three were so busy musing with each other that they didn't notice a large, shadowy figure creeping up on them. It was only when the three heard a low, growling sound that they realized that they were not alone.

Slowly, they turned around. Once they did, their eyes widened in horror.

"Holy crap. . ." Kevin whispered, his pupils shrinking in terror.

* * *

By now, the rest of the group had made it outside. Molly was quick to whip out her phone and start calling the fire department in preparation for the fire that was about to ensue.

Suddenly, we heard a high-pitched screech coming from inside the school. "What was that?" Sam asked in confusion.

"That sounded like. . . Kevin!" I whispered, horror dawning upon me. Had something gone wrong? Had the Mud Monsters caught up to them?

I didn't plan to wait to find an answer. Before anyone could stop me, I rushed back into the school, desperate to see if my brother and his friends were alright. I vaguely heard my friends calling out my name, but I paid them no heed.

As I reached the source of the scream, I came to a stop. I flattened myself against the wall, ready to spring around the corner to see what it was that had startled my brother.

In the darkness, I felt a hand rest upon my shoulder. Before I could scream, another hand clasped itself over my mouth.

"Ssh," Courtney's voice whispered in the darkness. She appeared behind me, pulling me back.

"Courtney," I whispered, relieved that it was her. I saw the gun and knife in her hand; slowly, she extended the knife to me. I took it.

"I'm a better shot," She said, holding the gun up. "Stay hidden."

Slowly, she peeked out from behind the corner to get a look at whatever it was on the other side of the hallway. Behind her, I saw her let out a horrified gasp.

"What was it?" I asked as she stepped backwards.

Courtney was silent for a few moments, but I could see the coldness in her eyes. "You know, I never did tell you what happened to Old Man Butcher," She whispered softly.

I narrowed my eyes. I had totally forgotten about that folk tale up until now. "What about him?" I asked.

"According to the tale, one of his victims managed to escape him," She explained. "She rushed into town, all crazy and stuff, and explained everything. A mob gathered and stormed his house, where they found everything. Edward Butcher ran, but all he did was seal his fate."

"What happened to him?" I asked. Though I was focused on Courtney, I thought I could make out a shadow coming up from behind her. Curiously enough, Courtney seemed to notice it too, but she did nothing.

Instead, she finally finished the story.

"He ran into Muddy Creek."

And then, the figure behind Courtney finally made itself known.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	21. Chapter 21

_Matt: She died in Chapter Nine._

 _I am a burglar: Ugh..._

 _Godzilla183: Thanks._

* * *

This past year, and especially this Halloween Night, I'd seen some scary stuff.

I'd witnessed Mud Monsters crawl out of their boggy graves. I'd seen my neighborhood flooded with ravenous monsters. I'd even a few of my classmates, some of whom I grew up with, some of whom I liked, and others I didn't so much, get dragged to their doom.

None of that held a candle to what I bore witness to at this very moment.

It was a Mud Monster, just like all the others I'd seen tonight. But this one was. . . _different._

It was massive, towering over all of the other Mud Monsters. Jagged, crooked teeth protruded from the ridges of its massive jaws. But most notably, its hide was riddled with knives.

And its pitch black eye sockets were unlike the empty ones I'd seen from the other Mud Monsters. Within these eyes, I saw the cold, hateful, furious eyes of a murderer, the type of eyes I knew had existed long before he had died.

It was the Butcher. Old Man Butcher.

And he was a Mud Monster.

For a few moments, I was simply frozen still, petrified. I tried to find the will to move, to run, to do _anything_ , but it was like I'd looked into the eyes of a gorgon. All I could do was stare in silent horror as Mud Monster Butcher raised its massive arms, slime dripping from its wrist, and brought it down upon my head.

A sudden force slammed into me, knocking me out of the Mud Monster's swing. Landing on the ground hard, I looked up to see Courtney lying upon me, sweat dripping from her forehead.

It took a few moments for us to process the position we were in. When it did, terror was replaced by immature embarrassment, and the two of us scrambled to untangle ourselves.

Glancing to the side, Courtney noticed three figures lying on the ground in the middle of the hallway. "It's your brother!" She said to me.

I whipped my head around to where Courtney was pointing and saw them. For a moment, I was worried that they were dead, but to my luck, Kevin and his friends were breathing. However, upon squinting my eyes further, I saw that they were covered in mud.

"Kevin!" I shouted, and was about to rush to my feet when the shadow of Mud Monster Butcher loomed over me. As I looked up to him, Courtney stepped between us, brandishing the gun and knife.

"Go free your brother!" She commanded, keeping her eyes on the Butcher. "I'll deal with him!"

For a moment, I simply lay crouched on my knees, insure of what to do. Courtney responded to my hesitance by roughly kicking me with her heel, and I immediately scrambled over to my brother and his friends.

"Get this off of me, Bugs!" Kevin pleaded. "Please!"

"Alright, alright!" I shouted, panicked. Quickly, I started ripping the hard mud off of my brother with my bare hands, freeing him. As I was about to move on to his friends, I looked around and asked, "Where's the lighter?"

"Vic has it," Kevin said, his upper body free.

"Right!" I said, and rushed to Vic's side. "Don't worry, Vic, I'll have you free in a moment!"

"Quickly!" Vic cried, tears in his eyes. "Before I become monster-ized!"

Nearby, Courtney faced off against the Butcher. The massive Mud Monster growled and lumbered forward, towering over the blonde. Courtney stepped back; though she tried to look brave, she could barely hide her fear.

Without warning, Mud Monster Butcher made a quick lunge at her. Without hesitation, Courtney fired the bullet into his abdomen. The Mud Monster stumbled backwards, only to keep on going, unaffected.

Courtney stepped back, her entire body quaking. Veins began to appear on her forehead as her confidence deteriorated at an alarming rate. She continued firing, only for a swipe from Old Man Butcher's arm to send the gun clattering onto the ground. He then reached for Courtney, but she raised her knife and slashed his arm, causing the Mud Monster to let out a deep howl of pain, jerking his arm back.

"Courtney!" I shouted, turning back towards her, horrified.

"Hey, don't just stand there, free me!" Vic shouted, still half-covered in mud.

"Do as he says!" Courtney demanded, even though I could hear the vulnerability in her voice. Fighting back my urge to intervene, I reluctantly resumed scraping the mud covering Vic.

Courtney turned back to Old Man Butcher, ready to resume the scuffle, but was befuddled to see the monster letting out a strange noise. It took a moment for her to realize that it was _laughter._

Then, before Courtney could react, the Mud Monster let out a belching sound and unleashed a torrent of mud out of its jaws. The force of the blow collided with Courtney, knocking her backwards. She slid over the mud, skidding over to where me, Kevin and his friends were, and slammed right into me, throwing me off of Vic.

As we came to a stop, we heard groaning sounds coming from the end of the hallway. Looking up, we could just barely make out the silhouette of the Mud Monster horde approaching us, no doubt having heard the scuffle.

Mouthing a swear word, I scrambled to my feet. "Vic, pass me the lighter!" I called out. Using his free arm, Vic hurled the lighter towards me. Catching it, I quickly ignited it and whirled upon the horde, ready to throw it. Before I could, however, I was grabbed by the wrist and lifted into the air. The figure holding me turned me around, revealing Mud Monster Butcher.

We locked us, my fearful eyes gazing into his black, empty ones. He let out a deep howl and brought me closer, his jaws hanging open as if to devour me.

Suddenly, someone pounced onto the Butcher's back, nearly knocking him forward. My eyes widened. It was Courtney.

Ripping out one of the knives lodged in his back, Courtney wrenched her arm back, and plunged it deep into the Butcher's empty eye socket. The Butcher threw back his head and let out a howl, dropping both of us onto the ground.

The lighter clattered onto the ground. Quickly, I snatched it up, evading the Butcher as he stumbled about in agony. Behind me, Kevin had finished freeing his friends. "Eddie, let's go, now!" He called out to me. Vic and Gregory were already running.

Whipping around to face the horde of Mud Monsters, I growled out, "Fire in the whole!"

Then I threw the lighter.

* * *

 _Read and review._


	22. Chapter 22

_Matt: Well, it's finally here._

 _I am a burglar: Yeah, well you'd probably want to get out soon, since the whole school is going down._

 _Godzilla183: You said it._

 _Alright, final chapter up. After over a year, this story is finally finished. One part of me is a little guilty it took so long to get this far, but it had a good run, IMO._

* * *

What happened next was a blur.

All I could remember was throwing the lighter at the massive blob that was the Mud Monster horde. As the lighter illuminated their faces in the darkness, I thought I could see their faces light up in horror for a split-second.

Then, the lighter hit the ground, and within seconds, the entire hallway lit up, along with the Mud Monsters. I could still hear their howls of agony as the fire melted away the mud, revealing the corpses of what they once were in a past life.

For a few moments, I thought I was going to join them. But then, I felt a strong force take hold of me. Before I knew what was happening, I was dragged down the burning hallway and out the nearest window. The sounds of screaming faded away, swallowed by the roars of the flames.

And then, we were outside.

I lay on the fields, breathing heavily. Before me, I could see the fire rage on within the school, spreading like a wildfire. It wouldn't be long before the whole building was destroyed.

Despite it all, a sense of relief washed over me.

After the scariest night of my life, it was all over. Truly over. No more Mud Monsters, no more dead people.

It was over.

"Eddie," A soft voice whispered by my side. Before I could turn my head to whoever had spoken, none other than Courtney was by my side. Tucking one arm under me to sit me up, she used the other to cup my cheek, staring me directly in the eyes.

Her face was covered in ashes and her hair was a mess, but despite it, she looked more beautiful than ever.

"Courtney. . ." I whispered, almost wondering whether she was truly there, or merely an illusion.

"I pulled you out," Courtney explained. "Me and your brother and his friends, we pulled you out."

"Where are they?" I asked, struggling to stand up.

"They're off to get the others," Courtney revealed. "I'm sure they're also calling the fire department." As if on cue, the two of us heard a small explosion within the school as the fire raged on, causing the two of us to flinch.

After the initial panic wore off, the two of us broke into a small, awkward chuckle. Eventually, even that tapered off into silence, and we simply stared at the burning school, where the Mud Monsters had once been.

"You know, Eddie, I didn't think you truly had it in you," Courtney said after a while, her voice empty.

"What do you mean?" I asked, wrapping my arms around my legs.

"I didn't think you could be so fearless," Courtney replied. "Last year, you were scared of bees. And here you are going up against a horde of Mud Monsters, including Old Man Butcher."

"Well I didn't think you had it in you, either," I said in a mischievous tone. "I mean, to admit to being scared."

I received a well-deserved punch in the arm. "Shut up, Bugs, I'm trying to be nice," Courtney snapped, using my brother's nickname for me.

I laughed it off. In the distance, I heard footsteps, and I turned around to see my brother, his friends, and my classmates all rushing towards us. Sam was helping a limping Hat to walk.

"Eddie!" Molly exclaimed, enveloping me in a hug. She was soon joined by Hat and Charlene, all of them crushing me in a group hug. Courtney scooted away, giving us some space.

"I called the fire department," Molly explained once my friends released me. "They'll be here in a short while."

Charlene turned to the burning school. "Did you get them?" She asked, for reassurance. "The Mud Monsters, I mean."

"Yeah, they're dead," I said. "Well, deader than they already were."

"That's good," Hat said, rubbing the back of his head. "You know, if there's one good thing that's come of this night, it's that there won't be any school for the time being. Heck, maybe next year, we could do this again to get out of high school."

He meant it as a joke, but the response, from all of us, was a resounding, "No!"

And we meant it. From this night on, I was _never_ going to try to scare Courtney again. After all, I'd already succeeded in getting her scared.

And for me, that was more than enough.

* * *

Well, that all happened two weeks ago. Two long weeks ago. After that night, things were different, but still strangely familiar.

Almost immediately after Halloween, Courtney started bragging to everyone. Not only about how she'd seen actual Mud Monsters, but about how she'd actually fought them, except now she had proof she had.

I would've been annoyed, except I was right by her side, bragging along with her, about how the two of us had single-handedly saved the whole town from being overrun by Mud Monsters. It was funny; I used to wonder how someone could be so self-centered.

Now I knew.

Kevin and his friends, meanwhile, were now working on the sequel to their home video. He tells me he plans to send it to a movie studio, says it'll make us all rich. After that Halloween, I'd believe anything.

Hat was released from the hospital, meanwhile. Charlene had been by his side the whole time; they were closer than ever now. I swear, he spends more time with her than with me.

Then again, I wasn't one to talk. Because the same could be said for me and Courtney.

After that night, we stopped being enemies, officially, and even started to hang out sometimes. With Denise no longer around after that night, there really weren't many other people to hang out with. I could tell she was still rather broken up about it, but she was managing.

After we stopped trying to one-up each other, I learned Courtney was actually a pretty fun person to be around. Once you get past all the bragging, that is.

* * *

"Run that by me, again?" I said to Courtney up in her tree house.

"I said I was thinking we should go into acting," Courtney explained to me, Hat, Molly and Charlene. "Your brother is already making a movie, after all."

"Please, like anyone would want to watch us," Molly said.

"Are we not the town heroes?" Courtney said in her usual high-and-mighty tone, though it was strangely no longer annoying to me.

"You know, for once, you might be on to something," Charlene said, her arm interlocked with Hat's. "Though if we do, can we please not star in something scary?"

"Is that not our specialty?" I asked, mimicking Courtney's voice. "Heck, maybe the first film we star in can be about the legend of Old Man Butcher. My brother's already making a film about the Mud Monsters."

"Yeah, but what about after that?" Hat asked. "We're gonna have to start making films about things other than our personal experiences."

"Well," Courtney said, shifting her eyes. "I once heard someone say they saw Bigfoot in these woods once. That could give us some film ideas."

I immediately realized what she was getting at. "You sure you wanna do that, Courtney?" I asked. "It could be scary."

Courtney merely smirked in response.

"Please, Eddie," She said with a mischievous glint. "You Can't Scare Me Thrice."

* * *

 _The End._


End file.
